Ch.84Chapter 13. Training Camp (4)

I woke up, as always, because of Koko.

Whether she learned too much from Kuro the cat, or if it was just Koko’s natural instinct, she always curled up into a ball wherever she slept. Even if she started out lying straight, she’d eventually curl up.

And then she’d burrow into my side.

When I woke up, my side was damp with sweat from her body heat.

Usually I wouldn’t wake up until morning, but I probably woke up in the middle of the night because I was sleeping in a different place.

The room was old but had air conditioning, making it much cooler than where we usually stayed. Ironically, it seemed the contrast between the artificial coolness and Koko’s body heat had woken me up.

If I’d just opened my eyes briefly, I could have gone back to sleep, but what I felt upon waking was quite intense thirst. Was it because I’d spent so long in the hot spring earlier?

After a moment’s deliberation between enduring the thirst or getting up to drink water, I chose the latter. My throat felt parched. Now that I thought about it, we had the air conditioning on. No wonder it felt dry.

I yawned and was carefully sitting up, trying not to wake Koko, when—

Swish, click.

That sound reached my ears.

I froze, my body tensing up as I was about to get out of bed.

It sounded like a door closing. Though dim light came through the window, it was still the middle of the night. It was too dark to see clearly around me.

After blinking for several seconds, trying to adjust to the darkness, I could finally make out my surroundings and carefully looked around.

Thankfully, I didn’t see any ghosts crouching in the corner with their heads bowed, or evil spirits peeking through a slightly opened door.

However.

…Hagiwara was missing.

I rubbed my face.

The reason for her absence was all too easy to imagine. She must have gone to Sasaki’s room.

I briefly considered whether I should stop her, but quickly concluded there was no need.

Right, what do I care if they’re acting out some romantic comedy? If I were the one being stolen away, I might shed tears of blood, but I’m not even a male character to begin with.

Besides, this is a world of “all-ages light novels,” so nothing will happen anyway. Hagiwara isn’t a character who goes beyond the category of “sexy but inexperienced older sister figure” of that era.

When actually faced with the situation, she’ll probably get flustered, blush deeply, and run away.

I counted to ten while standing at the door. I definitely didn’t want to run into Hagiwara tiptoeing around.

I just needed to quickly drink some water and go back to pretend I was asleep.

With that thought, I slowly opened the door and looked toward the living room, which seemed empty.

Still drowsy from sleep, I stumbled slightly as I walked out of the room.

I turned toward the kitchen.

…And ended up making eye contact with Nakahara, who had frozen in place while sneaking up the stairs.

“…”

“…”

I considered for a moment.

Would it look strange if I rubbed my face in this situation?

Thinking it probably would, I refrained from doing so.

I just turned around as if I hadn’t seen anything and headed for the kitchen.

“Hey, wait a second!”

Nakahara called out.

Of course, quietly enough that only I could hear. It was more like a whispered shout. At least it wouldn’t have been heard in the rooms.

As I was pouring water from the refrigerator into a cup, Nakahara’s hand lightly touched my shoulder.

I turned to look at her with a tired face, and she was blushing bright red, clearly flustered.

“Ah, um, you know.”

“…”

“…This isn’t what you’re thinking.”

What am I thinking?

I didn’t expect the childhood friend character to be this proactive, unlike the sexy older sister character.

It’s fortunate we were assigned different rooms. Otherwise, I would have woken up to the sound of these two fighting rather than from thirst.

“…I’ll pretend I didn’t see anything.”

When I spoke in a sleepy voice while holding my water cup, Nakahara rolled her eyes around as if that response was perplexing in its own way.

What should I do?

There was a way to make Nakahara leave me alone without further discussion. I could just tell her that Hagiwara had gone up to Sasaki’s room.

…Shii was already inevitably involved from the moment Hagiwara entered anyway.

“No, I mean, it’s not what you’re thinking…”

“…”

“I was just worried that Hagiwara might do something bad to Sasaki.”

A very accurate guess.

Though she probably just blurted it out while scrambling for an excuse.

“Oh, oh, oh, that’s right!”

As if she’d gotten a hint from her own words, Nakahara’s expression brightened as she spoke.

“Hagiwara is still in the room, right? Right? Then I can go back to my room without worrying!”

“…”

How should I respond?

If I said Hagiwara was there, I’d be taking Hagiwara’s side. But by tomorrow morning, everyone would discover Hagiwara sleeping next to Sasaki anyway.

I… well. I’m not extremely close with Hagiwara. In terms of how many times we’ve met, I’ve seen her a few more times than Nakahara, and we do share some secrets, but I questioned whether that made us personally close.

Nakahara also shares secrets with me. We experienced the extraordinary together.

It’s actually impressive that she can maintain this mentality. Perhaps this is the standard mental fortitude of a light novel heroine.

She might have burst into tears when she met Sasaki afterward, or maybe Sasaki comforted her at school, but if such events happened, they occurred without my knowledge.

“Huh?”

When I didn’t answer, Nakahara’s expression changed.

She looked blank for a moment, then her expression hardened as if a thought had occurred to her, and finally her eyes narrowed sharply.

“Wait, could it be that Hagiwara…?”

I said nothing.

This is what you’d call exercising the right to remain silent.

“…”

Seeing my expressionless face, an indignant Nakahara removed her hand from my shoulder and strode to our room, opening the door.

Naturally, Hagiwara’s spot was empty.

Nakahara immediately turned and quickly went up to Sasaki’s room.

I gulped down the water I was holding, filled the sink with tap water, and was heading back to the room when—

“Senpai!”

I flinched at the sound of that shout.

I hadn’t expected her to yell like that in the middle of the night.

I thought she might go sleep on the opposite side in typical harem light novel fashion, but then I remembered that Shii was also in the room.

Of course Shii would be next to Sasaki.

“Nakahara senpai…?”

I heard Shii’s voice, and there was a groaning sound from where Hagiwara had left the door open.

Soon after, Yuka poked her head out the door. She looked extremely sleepy.

Making eye contact with me as I was about to enter the room, she rubbed her eyes and asked,

“What’s all the commotion…?”

“…Nothing important.”

I answered.

I’m glad Yuka isn’t like she was in the original work. If she had understood the situation, she would have rushed right in.

It was hard to even imagine the Yuka who would say things like “I-it’s not like I like you or anything!” anymore.

“Nanami…? No, Hagiwara senpai!?”

“Mmm.”

I could hear Sasaki panicking as he grasped the situation, and Hagiwara making a somewhat exaggerated moan-like sound in a seductive voice. It was so overdone that it actually made me more alert.

“…”

Yuka finally understood the situation and quickly turned to look for Hagiwara.

Seeing the empty spot, she looked up toward the second floor. Then finally at me.

Her expression was one of shock.

“…”

This time, I couldn’t resist rubbing my face.

*

“Mmm…?”

“No, it’s okay. You can sleep more.”

“Is it morning…?”

“No.”

While we were having a somewhat serious conversation with the living room lights on, Koko came out of the room, rubbing her eyes, apparently noticing that I was gone from beside her.

She walked toward me almost instinctively, and I fixed her disheveled clothes.

At my words, Koko plopped down next to me, then curled up beside me.

And then she sat up next to me.

It seemed she was already awake and had no intention of going back to sleep. She’d probably stay here until I returned to the room.

Looking at Koko, who was nodding off while leaning on my shoulder, I pulled a blanket from the sofa and draped it over her shoulders.

The others, who had been distracted watching Koko, began to regain their focus and share their opinions.

“No matter what! I don’t think it’s right to do that when staying at someone else’s grandmother’s house!”

Izumi raised her voice.

“Hey, if they like each other, these things can happen.”

“B-but they’re not even adults yet!”

Shii objected to Kaoru’s words.

“I told you, girls can get married at sixteen.”

Hagiwara insisted.

Didn’t she say that earlier today too?

“Souta is fifteen!”

Naturally, Nakahara responded incredulously.

“What do you think, Mako-chan?”

“Ah, I, I…”

“…”

Fukuda asked Mako teasingly, and Mako predictably stammered.

Yamashita was looking at her phone, seemingly uninterested.

“…Excuse me, everyone.”

Amid this heated debate—or whatever you’d call this somewhat strange conversation—Yuka quietly raised one hand and spoke.

Her voice had a sharp edge to it, and all talking stopped instantly.

Everyone’s reactions were different. Kaoru and Izumi, who had seen Yuka often, weren’t particularly intimidated, and neither were the Miura trio who had seen how Yuka fought. In a sense, they were comrades.

Hagiwara had no reason to be scared either. Nakahara wasn’t frightened by this level of intensity, perhaps because she’d experienced similar situations before.

“Hiccup.”

So there was only one person who was scared.

The biggest victim of this situation, Shii.

“…”

After hearing Shii’s hiccup, everyone’s gaze turned to her.

Then back to Yuka.

“…Sorry.”

I… I can understand why she spoke that way.

The situation wasn’t good.

I silently offered Yuka my sympathies. Though they probably didn’t reach her.

“Ahem.”

Anyway, atmosphere aside, there were things that needed to be said.

“Everyone, I understand you want to have fun. But remember why we’re gathered here, right?”

At least Hagiwara and Nakahara definitely came because of Sasaki.

Of course, I had enough tact not to point that out.

“We’re here to help Koko.”

That was the ostensible purpose. That was probably true until we arrived here yesterday.

But from the moment Koko effortlessly absorbed knowledge on the first day and got decent scores, they probably thought, ‘Maybe we can take it a bit easy?’

“If we make noise in the middle of the night, Koko won’t be able to sleep properly—”

“Zzz, zzz.”

“…”

Everyone’s attention turned to Koko, who was leaning on my shoulder.

Koko was sleeping soundly.

Right, she’s a child who always curls up next to me when sleeping and has never once complained about back pain.

So leaning on my shoulder to sleep is probably nothing to her.

“…She sleeps well.”

Kaoru said.

As attention returned to her, Yuka’s face reddened slightly and she said,

“K-Koko might sleep well, but we’re disturbing others.”

At least that statement was indisputable.

“Koko still has a lot to learn. Even if the student is fine, if the teachers aren’t in good shape, the results won’t be good either, right?”

“…”

Everyone seemed to agree with that.

“And, Hagiwara senpai. What were you doing with Shii there?”

“…”

Hagiwara looked away as if pretending not to hear.

Shii still appeared somewhat intimidated.

She glanced at me, and I nodded to her. Seeing my expression, Shii seemed a little reassured.

I’m not sure what she was reassured about, but if Shii gained one more person to rely on, that’s welcome.

…Since I played a part in the midnight incident by pretending not to notice, I should at least do this much.

“…Well then.”

In the quiet atmosphere, Yuka spoke.

“Shall we all go back to our rooms?”

Everyone nodded.

It’s still the middle of the night. Even if we don’t need to get up early tomorrow, sleeping too late will affect our condition the next day.

With Yuka’s words, everyone got up from their seats.

“Koko. Let’s go to bed.”

“Mmm.”

When I gently shook her awake, Koko made that sound and narrowly opened her eyes.

“…I’m sorry, Shii. I was thoughtless.”

Meanwhile, Hagiwara was apologizing to Shii.

“Me too. Even if senpai acted childishly, I should have been more mature.”

“…Didn’t you say Souta can’t get married because he’s only fifteen?”

Hagiwara asked incredulously at Nakahara’s words, but Nakahara seemed completely unconcerned.

“No. I was just… a little surprised, that’s all.”

“I’m sorry, Shii.”

“If my brother wasn’t here, I would have been anxious alone. You don’t need to apologize.”

“You’re really mature. Unlike someone who crawls into the futon of the guy she likes.”

“…”

Nakahara was praising Shii when our eyes met.

She quickly shut her mouth and her face turned bright red.

“Hmm? Then how did you know to open the door—”

“C-come on, it’s late! Let’s all go to bed, quickly!”

At Nakahara’s transparent attempt to change the subject, Hagiwara let out a disbelieving laugh but didn’t push the issue further.

In that way, she acted a bit more like a senior.

Though that didn’t make her seem more mature.

*

“…Amazing.”

“Is Koko amazing?”

“Yes, you’re amazing.”

“Wow!”

At my answer, Koko raised both hands in excitement and cheered.

To be honest, Koko’s mental age doesn’t seem to have developed much. Her speech patterns are still childlike, and her personality is no different from a child’s.

She studied hard just for chocolate rewards or head pats and praise.

Perhaps for Koko, studying is similar to solving puzzles?

I had been teaching her Japanese diligently, but I was surprised to see Koko move beyond children’s books to properly read literature and get the answers right.

“Could Koko actually be a genius?”

Izumi, who was in charge of Japanese lessons with me, said with an extremely serious expression.

Miura, who had said something similar before, was also looking at Koko seriously.

“Well, it doesn’t really matter either way, does it? As long as she can take the test properly so Kotone can attend school.”

Everyone more or less agreed with Kaoru’s words, but—

Only Hagiwara was looking at me, not Koko.

And with quite a serious expression.

“…”

I tried my best to pretend I didn’t notice her gaze, but I’m not sure if I succeeded.

*

It seems I didn’t succeed.

We bathed in the hot spring again today, but this time I deliberately got up first without worrying about appearances. I was feeling quite exhausted from yesterday evening anyway.

While some of the kids hadn’t seen me cutting my wrist here, I was quite thin to begin with.

If I said I felt a bit dizzy, everyone would let me go.

Yuka tried to get up with me, but when I told her to enjoy herself a bit longer, she hesitated but sat back down.

Judging by Yuka’s expression, I guarantee she’ll come out in less than five minutes.

“Mmm mmm.”

“You need to dry your hair properly.”

As I sat Koko down and pressed a towel against her hair to squeeze out the water, she whined a little, so I said that.

Well, it’s not like she ever refused or rebelled. Koko was a good child, at least in front of me.

And in front of Yuka too, for now.

While I was drying her hair, I heard someone coming from the bath area.

Thinking it was Yuka, I turned my head, but surprisingly, it was Hagiwara who came out.

“…Want me to help dry your hair?”

Those words were directed at me, not Koko.

My hair was as long as Koko’s, but I hadn’t dried my own hair yet because I was busy drying Koko’s.

Hagiwara had twisted her hair up and tied it with a towel. Her hair was shorter than mine, so that seemed sufficient.

Before I could answer, Hagiwara took hold of my hair.

“…”

For a moment, neither of us spoke.

“…Um.”

“Yes.”

“That child, Koko.”

“…”

I knew what she wanted to ask.

We’d had a similar exchange before.

“…She’s human.”

That’s how I answered.

“I want to live that way. Both me and Koko. Normally.”

“Wow.”

Sensing something in my voice, Koko turned to look at me.

Eyes that seemed innocent and unknowing reflected my image.

Eyes like mine, but fundamentally more pure in some way.

…Eyes that reminded me of someone.

Maybe that’s why I’m so attached to her.

“…I see.”

Whatever she was thinking, Hagiwara answered like that and then silently dried my hair.

Yuka, who belatedly noticed Hagiwara’s absence, came rushing out calling “Kotone!?” less than a minute later.