Source
https://kakuyomu.jp/works/2912051597934651646/episodes/2912051599719411369
A light splash echoed through the steam-filled bathroom.
“Hehehehe, heheheh. Hehehehe…!”
Resting her chin on the edge of the tub, Hirugami let out a carefree laugh.
Enveloped in the warmth of the water, she was grinning so widely her face felt like it might catch fire as she reminisced about the sweet moments she’d just shared with Hotarou.
The fact that he’d relaxed in her room, eaten sukiyaki side by side with her, and even watched over her while she slept.
She was so over the moon right now that an invisible tail would be splashing wildly in the water, sending droplets flying everywhere.
(I want to brag! I just have to tell someone about this happiness!)
Unable to contain the joy that felt like it was about to explode deep within her chest, Seika picked up her smartphone, which was in a waterproof case.
She opened the messaging app and tapped the chat screen for her only best friend, Miyuki Kayano.
“Hey hey! Miyuki, are you awake? I’m in such a great mood right now! Guess why?”
It was a late-night, annoying message.
However, before long, “Read” appeared on the screen, and a short reply popped up.
“Did something happen with Achi-kun?”
“That’s right!”
She shouted at the top of her lungs, her voice echoing through the bathroom, and Seika began furiously typing away.
About how she’d been hassled by a weird guy in the afternoon and he’d saved her, how they’d gone out for sukiyaki together to thank him, and how he’d stayed late just for her.
Letting her emotions run wild, she sent a barrage of long messages, exclaiming, “And then, and then, and then—!”
For a while, there was no reply from Miyuki.
Just as Seika was starting to worry that she might have been too annoying and was about to flatten her invisible ears against her head, the screen lit up.
“I’m glad.”
“You haven’t been yourself lately.”
The moment she saw that short message, Seika’s fingertips froze.
Her giddy mind calmed down as if it had been suddenly plunged into cold water.
Miyuki was right.
Seika hadn’t been herself lately.
As she moved up a grade, the number of boys approaching her with their eyes on her voluptuous figure had visibly increased.
A baseless rumor that she “slept with anyone” had taken on a life of its own, and she was utterly exhausted by guys like the ones today, who made their lecherous intentions blatantly clear.
Seika scrolled through her call history on the messaging app.
Before she started seeing Houtarou, she used to call Miyuki late at night quite often, crying and venting her frustrations to her.
Even though she put on a tough front with her flashy appearance, deep down she was just a pure-hearted girl. There was no way she could remain unscathed by such blatant malice and leering stares.
“You don’t vent to me anymore. That’s thanks to him, isn’t it?”
At Miyuki’s follow-up message, Seika hugged her knees tightly in the bathtub.
“Yeah…”
A small voice, as if dissolving into the water, slipped out.
Ever since he’d started staying by her side, she no longer cared as much about the nasty rumors or the stares from the boys.
No matter what rumors were flying around, Houtarou was the only one who never looked at her through tinted glasses. He simply faced her head-on, as the individual known as “Seika Hirugami.”
Just how much that fact had saved and warmed Seika’s heart.
“You like him, don’t you?”
At that decisive phrase that appeared on the screen, Seika’s cheeks flushed bright red.
It wasn’t just the hot water. Her heart was pounding like a drum, and a sweet, tight ache squeezed deep within her chest.
Seika didn’t reply to that message.
But even without typing a word, her best friend on the other side of the screen surely understood.
After all, this burning passion—this unquenchable longing for him—needed no words to express it.
Clutching her smartphone to her chest, Seika submerged half her face in the hot water.
As bubbles fizzed and frothed, a sloppy, “Hehehe” chuckle escaped her lips once more.
The quiet night in the bathroom deepened endlessly, along with the innocent gal’s sweet, romantic feelings.
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