Source
https://kakuyomu.jp/works/16818622176550308690/episodes/16818792437747664389
I replied to Maeda-san with just “I’ll be right there,” then took the elevator to the top floor.
According to Maeda-san, Suzukita-san was apparently waiting for me at the rooftop’s paid private open-air bath.
And there, greeting me, was—
“—Sorry to keep you waiting, Renka-chan. Sorry I made you come all this way.”
Black hair cut straight across her forehead, round-lensed glasses.
Suzukita-san—no, Maeda-san—was standing there.
“Ah… yeah, it’s fine. Thanks for the message, Maeda-san.”
“Hehe. Well then, why don’t you get in?”
That smile of Maeda-san’s—what was it? It felt a little… scary.
Following her lead, I stepped into the bathroom where Suzukita-san should have been waiting.
But there was no one there.
“Huh… Hey, Maeda-san. Where’s Suzukita-san…?”
“Miyuki-chan? She’s not here. Looks like she went to the lounge.”
Click.
Maeda-san locked the door behind us with her hand behind her back.
“…Huh?”
“Renka-chan. Why don’t we take a bath for now?”
“But… Suzukita-san called me…”
“Renka-chan. ――Shall we take off our clothes?”
The smile remained fixed on her face.
Maeda-san’s dark eyes stared intently at me. …Overwhelmed by that gaze, I sat down on the chair as instructed.
—My heart leapt. It felt really, really bad.
“Hehe, don’t be so scared, Renka-chan.”
Speaking calmly, Maeda-san began to take off her yukata, the house robe.
The clothes she had been wearing fell onto the floor of the cramped changing room.
“Sorry for lying, Renka-chan. I just wanted to talk with you alone, Renka-chan. So I used Miyuki-chan as an excuse.”
“…Ah, so, that’s… why…”
I couldn’t get my voice out properly.
Why? — That scene flashed back to me.
The memory from first year of middle school, when I rejected that senior’s confession. The senior’s eyes, suddenly turning pitch black.
No… it wasn’t just that.
I was remembering the girls in my second-grade class.
“So, really, it’s okay. I’m not going to do anything scary, okay?”
“H-h-honestly…?”
“Yeah. I just have a favor to ask you, Renka-chan.”
With a clear, unclouded smile.
Maeda-san gently took off her glasses.
Then, with those dark eyes, she scanned my entire body as if observing me intently—
“So then. —Want to take a bath?”
Why, I wondered.
Why was Maeda-san… looking at me like that?
Her eyes felt somehow… very frightening.
I… replied, “Okay.”
I undressed and stepped into the hot spring.
Under the cloudy night sky, I sat down next to Maeda-san.
It’s probably because it’s private, but this hot spring isn’t very spacious. And yet… somehow, it felt incredibly cramped.
“Hehe, thanks, Renka-chan. For putting up with my selfishness, I mean.”
Her voice sounded exactly the same as it had during the day—if anything, it was bright.
…Maybe I’m just being overly cautious?
But… the fluttering in my chest showed no sign of stopping.
“Actually, I thought this in the evening too, but Renka-chan really is cute, huh? No wonder they say you’re the school’s top beauty. Your skin is seriously flawless. How do you get it so smooth and silky?”
“Eh… Ah, well. It’s, um…”
“It’s?”
“Ah… W-well, my mom works at a cosmetics company. So, she recommends all kinds of stuff to me, so…”
Her voice trembled.
Words wouldn’t come easily. But I kept moving my lips desperately.
“Huh, really? Is that why your hair is so silky too?”
“W-well, my hair… yeah. Mom picks out my hair dryer and stuff too…”
“But hey, your face is natural, right? And you’re wearing no makeup, right? Your figure’s gorgeous too. If I were a guy, I’d totally fall for you, Renka-chan~”
—Just as I thought.
It wasn’t my imagination. My chest fluttered, my heart pounding wildly.
Something dark lingered in Maeda-san’s eyes.
Something heavy mingled in her voice.
“Hey, Renka-chan. I have a favor to ask of you.”
So that was why.
Why I remembered what happened back then.
“About… Ayata-kun. Give him up to Miyuki-chan.”
A gaze thick with slimy, malicious intent.
—Maeda-san had been looking at me with the same eyes as those girls.
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