Anyway, I steeled my resolve and finished the check-in.
Upon entering the room.
“Well, I guess that’s how it goes...”
“I suppose so...”
As expected, we were in the same room. Since we were starting to understand the system of this ‘dream,’ we figured that if we were staying overnight, this would happen. Our reactions were becoming quite subdued.
...I mean, to be honest, if I thought about it normally, I’d be so nervous I wouldn’t be able to do anything! This situation is insane!!
We ate dinner (it was even a room meal! Who’s paying for this? Yuzu?), and since we had nothing else to do, we decided to head to the hot springs.
At the crossroads between the men’s and women’s baths.
“Konuma, when are you coming out?”
“Eh, why?”
She’s consulting me about what time to leave the bath...!?
“Well, we only have one room key...”
Azuma-san dangled the key ring from her finger.
“Ah, right... I’m fine with whenever, though...”
“Then, let's meet back here in one hour.”
“O-Oh. ...Don’t pass out in there, okay?”
“...As long as amane-sama isn't in there, I’ll be fine.”
No, even if you set a flag like that, she surely won’t be here this time... (She wasn’t.)
One hour later.
“Konuma, sorry to keep you waiting.”
Azuma-san, fresh from the bath, called out to me.
I didn't have much to do in the bath alone, so I came out pretty quickly and had been in this waiting area for about forty minutes. Since I’m used to being alone, forty minutes wasn't painful at all.
“O-Oh... yeah.”
I mean, as usual, a yukata really suits you, Azuma-neesan...
“Well, shall we head back to the room?”
“O-Oh.”
Just as I was about to stand up, I overheard a conversation from another couple in the same cooling-off area.
“Hey, hey, Erika looked it up, and apparently this ryokan has a room where a ghost appears~?”
“Huh, really? Isn't that bad?”
“Kenichi, you'll protect me, right~?”
“Leave it to me!”
Good grief, don't flirt like that in an open space... And those names are confusing; that coupling hasn't even been established yet...
Wait? Come to think of it.
“W-Wait, o-onu, wait, o-onu, ma, wait, did you hear that, wait, o-onu, ma.”
When I looked back, Azuma-san was standing there, pale-faced, shaking uncontrollably, and looking dazed.
“No no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no...”
I figured as much...
But, just like the case with the same room, considering the system of being inside this dream, it was a somewhat predictable development once we were brought to a hot spring ryokan with Azuma-san.
“Scary scary scary scary scary scary scary scary scary scary scary scary scary...”
Azuma-san gently pinched the cuff of my yukata. No, she grabbed it. Quite firmly.
“Let's... not go back to the room...?”
Ugh, Azuma-san (Scared Ver.) has been activated...!
“No, we can't really do that...”
“What was the room number again...?”
Azuma-san slowly pulled out the room key.
Come to think of it, we were on the fourth floor, the ninth room after going down the stairs...
“It's number 49.”
“Uwaaaaaaa——! No way, it's impossible——!”
I dragged the half-sobbing Azuma-san and somehow made it back to the room.
Once inside, two futons were laid out, spaced slightly apart.
Looking at the clock, it was past 10 PM.
It felt a bit early to sleep, but looking at the shivering Azuma-san, it didn't seem like we could have a proper conversation... In our case, there’s nothing to do besides talking anyway, so we might as well sleep...
“U-Um, well, Azuma-san, shall we head to bed now?”
“Eh, are you going to... turn off the light...?”
I mean, please stop huddling close to me like that, my consciousness is going to drift to things other than conversation...
“No, we don't have to turn it off...”
“Yeah, then please don't turn it off...?”
And so, with the lights still on, we each crawled into our futons.
“...K-Konuma. A-As usual, I, u-um, have a small request...”
“Y-Yes...?”
If it’s ‘as usual,’ then the next words will be...
“Could you... hold my hand?”
I knew it! ...Hm, no, it's a bit different from last time...? It feels like some rather important preamble was skipped...?
“Just... until I fall asleep, okay...”
“No, I mean, that much is obvious...”
Even so, holding hands feels like it crosses several lines...
“Um, how about just grabbing my cuff like last time...?”
“Hmm, for now, I guess it can't be helped...”
Yeah, it seems she was convinced for now. That’s a relief. ...But what does ‘for now’ mean?
Azuma-san (Scared Ver.) is like a younger sister... I kept telling myself that over and over while extending my left hand from the futon so she could grab the cuff.
I felt the cuff being pulled slightly.
“Goodnight, Konuma... sleep quickly, okay...”
“O-Oh... why?”
“Nothing.”
While tilting my head inwardly, I gently closed my eyes.
What, am I going to be eaten after I fall asleep today? (In a literal food-related sense.)
About ten minutes passed.
...Yeah! I can't sleep at all!
It’s only 10:30, the room is bright, and above all, Azuma-san is definitely not my sister!
However, if I don't at least pretend to be asleep, it’ll be awkward. It feels like she’s still awake over there too...
As I was agonizing with my eyes closed,
“Konuma, are you asleep yet...?”
She asked in a slightly husky voice.
I continued to commit to pretending to be asleep.
Then.
“You’re asleep... right?”
After confirming once more.
“Excuse me...”
After she said that, the sensation of the cuff being pulled vanished, and a small, warm sensation touched my left hand.
...Wait, is she holding my hand!? Eh, wait, Azuma-san...!?
I thought about looking over to protest, but if our eyes met as a result, it would be extremely awkward. Since I’d already committed to being asleep, I felt like things would get really bad, so I suppressed my left hand which was about to react and squeezed my eyes shut even tighter.
The one holding my hand is Yuzu, the one sleeping next to me is Yuzu, the one holding my hand is Yuzu, the one sleeping next to me is Yuzu...
As I chanted this spell to maintain my composure in my head, a few dozen seconds later,
“Suuu... suuu...”
I heard the sound of breathing from my left.
Hm, did she fall asleep...?
I whispered inwardly and cautiously opened my eyes a sliver to look at Azuma-san.
There, I saw Azuma-san’s sleeping face, smiling with an air of complete relief.
The President of the Instrumental Music Club—always tense, always considerate, kind yet strict, resilient, and always thinking of others.
But I hope she can at least rest slowly in a dream. While thinking that, I gazed at her sleeping face from the corner of my eye.
“Good work, goodnight.”
I whispered that and closed my eyes once more.
I also began to feel a sense of serenity and slowly fell into a deep sleep.
“Mmm, Konuma... any more than that is no good...”
* * *
Beep beep, beep beep... the smartphone alarm went off.
“Takkun, wake up.”
Hearing the alarm, it seemed Yuzu had come to my room to wake me up.
“Morning...”
“Good morning! You sure had fun last night, didn't you!”
“Ah, yeah... wait, HUH!?”
As I shouted first thing in the morning, Yuzu gave a meaningful, teasing grin.
“Well, Takkun’s been having a tough time lately, so you might as well go all out in your dreams.”
What exactly do you mean by that...?
While tilting my head, I looked at my phone and saw one LINE message.
Yuri: 『I had a dream-like dream! Thanks!』