When Utaha knocked on the door, she fully expected Haru to be pleasantly surprised.
After all, sneaking over like this wasn't just thrilling and exciting for her—she knew he always got a little fired up too. Every ti she showed up unannounced, he responded with just as much enthusiasm.
Then… she end up with weak knees.
But today was different.
The mont Haru heard the knock at the door, an ominous feeling crept up his spine.
He kept his voice steady and called out, "Who is it?"
"It's ."
Utaha's response was short and precise, like so secret agent confirming a password in a spy drama.
Anyone overhearing might've thought they were shooting a scene for Detective Investigation Unit or sothing.
"…Senpai?"
Haru's heart skipped a beat. "Wait just a second," he replied quickly.
Then he rushed over to the bath's curtain and called out without looking inside, "Hiratsuka-sensei?"
No response.
No way… Did she fall asleep?
Worried, he lifted the curtain—only to find Shizuka slumped back, eyes closed, looking completely relaxed.
She was sitting, at least, so the chances of drowning were low… but still, for safety's sake, he stepped inside.
Keeping his eyes firmly away from anywhere inappropriate, he walked behind her and gently tapped her on her hair.
"Hm…?"
Shizuka slowly blinked awake. When she turned and saw Haru crouching behind her, she visibly jumped.
She made a move to stand up again, but Haru reacted fast, placing a firm hand on her smooth shoulder and pushing her back down.
He's… really strong?!
Sohow, Hiratsuka had the presence of mind to think that.
Haru spoke quickly, trying to save ti: "Senpai is right outside. She's definitely going to co in. You need to get dressed—wait, where are your clothes?"
"...Shower room," Shizuka answered reflexively. The fog in her head started to clear as panic took over. "Wait, what? Kasumigaoka's here?!"
"Yeah, she's at the door. But don't worry, I'll explain everything to her."
"No way! How can you explain this? She's obviously going to get the wrong idea!"
Seeing how flustered she was, Haru sighed. "It's fine. Senpai is reasonable when it cos to serious stuff. Besides, this whole thing is a misunderstanding."
Shizuka fell silent for a few seconds, then reluctantly nodded.
Though her figure was mostly hidden beneath the hot spring water, she still instinctively crossed her arms over her chest and whispered, "You go out first."
Without another word, Haru stepped outside.
Shizuka took a deep breath, cheeks burning. I really ssed up today… she thought. Thank goodness Amamiya's so reliable.
With no ti to waste, she grabbed a towel and, half-covered, hurried out of the bath.
Carefully lifting the curtain, she saw Haru sitting with his back turned to her. Her face reddened even more as she tiptoed past him and dashed into the shower room.
Only then did Haru finally go to open the door.
"You took so long. Don't tell you were bathing?" Utaha narrowed her eyes suspiciously.
"Co in. I've got sothing to tell you."
"Huh? Why so mysterious?"
Still confused, Utaha followed him inside.
Once the door closed, Haru said calmly, "Hiratsuka-sensei is here."
Utaha froze. "Wait, what? What do you an she's here?"
He didn't try to hide anything. He gave her a quick summary of what had happened.
There was no point in lying about it—he understood why Utaha had co. She clearly intended to sneak in again tonight.
If he tried to cover things up, it would only make things worse. Better to get ahead of the misunderstanding and clear it up now.
"So you're saying… she mixed up the room numbers?"
"Exactly," Haru confird.
Utaha nodded slowly, though her expression was odd. "And where is she now?"
"She's in the shower room, getting dressed."
"She…even took off all her clothes?"
"Yeah. She thought this was the room you were staying in. Plus, she'd had a bit to drink, so she didn't overthink it and just went straight to the bath," Haru replied honestly.
Utaha fell silent.
Weird.
This is seriously weird.
She knew Hiratsuka Shizuka was single.
She'd even wondered before—how could soone that pretty, with such an amazing figure, still be single for so long?
But now wasn't the ti to dwell on that.
What she couldn't ignore… was that a single older woman had walked into the room of the boy she liked, stripped, and gotten into the bath.
"…Heh."
Her sudden laugh was sharp, eyes glinting with mischief. "So? Was her body nice?"
Haru had expected this. "No idea."
"You didn't look?"
"Didn't."
"I see."
Utaha didn't press further, just cast a smirking glance toward the shower room.
Really? You think I'm that easy to fool?
The fact that he calmly explained everything in detail ant he'd already worked it out with Hiratsuka-Sensei beforehand.
Which ant… he saw sothing.
Utaha quickly put the pieces together.
But she didn't call him out. If Haru had gone through the trouble of explaining it like this, it was because he didn't want things to get awkward.
As soone blessed with both looks and brains, she could respect that—and play along.
Still, when Shizuka finally erged from the shower room, visibly flustered, Utaha nearly lost her composure.
...She's actually kind of beautiful.
Due to the rush, Shizuka hadn't put her regular clothes back on and had instead wrapped herself in a spare yukata. The loosely tied robe draped around her soft curves, her cheeks glowing with embarrassnt.
Utaha's lips twitched—not quite a smile, not quite sothing else.
At the very least, Haru could tell she wasn't planning to cause a scene.
That was… a small relief.
"Sensei, he told what happened," Utaha said calmly, putting on a mature air. "Don't worry—I won't say anything."
Shizuka visibly relaxed. "Thank you. It was totally my mistake… I should've confird your room number earlier. I wouldn't have ended up barging into the wrong one."
Utaha kept smiling. "It's fine. Everyone gets confused sotis. By the way, that yukata looks really good on you."
"…Oh?" Shizuka blinked, unsure why the complint ca out of nowhere.
Still, she was flattered.
With the misunderstanding cleared up, Utaha turned to Haru and said smoothly, "I like having a cold juice after a bath. Want to grab you one?"
"I'm good," Haru replied.
Hearing that, Shizuka nodded to herself. So that's why Utaha ca over. Makes sense she'd co alone.
Utaha had skillfully hidden her true intentions. And with the mood as awkward as it was, Shizuka didn't question it. Hugging her clothes, she made her exit.
The door closed with a solid thud.
Only then did Haru turn around—just in ti for Utaha to step right up to him, voice low and vaguely resentful. "You sure gave a huge surprise tonight."
"Surprise? How so?" Haru asked, puzzled.
Utaha shook her head, not answering.
Won had sharp instincts when it ca to certain things.
Sure, the misunderstanding had been smoothed over… but the fact remained: Shizuka was a single, mature woman. That alone was enough to put Utaha on alert.
Especially the way Shizuka had looked at Haru as she left—equal parts embarrassnt, confusion, and sothing else entirely.
She was now as sensitive to this kind of thing as Yukino was when she caught Utaha sneaking through the living room at night.
It didn't take much to guess what had happened.
A drunken, older woman… saw a younger, stronger man's body… and started thinking weird things, huh.
Utaha stared into Haru's face for a long mont.
Then sighed like she'd resigned herself to fate. "Whatever."
"…Huh?"
Without answering, Utaha leaned into his chest.
As she rested there, she wondered—Do I need to start watching Hiratsuka-Sensei the way Yukinoshita watches ?
It was a slim chance. But better safe than sorry.
After all, at that age… single won were basically in "boss-level red heat phase."
This woman… is a starving single!
Utaha didn't waste ti. She grabbed Haru's hand and pulled him toward the inner room.
"Wait, what are you doing?"
"You didn't get to enjoy the bath, did you? Now's your chance." Her eyes sparkled, cheeks flushed, seductive and almost glowing.
"You think we've got enough ti?" Haru asked, raising a brow.
"What's with that look? Don't underestimate !"
Utaha gritted her teeth, cheeks burning, and resolved to show him what she was made of.
…and ended up completely wiped out in the bath.
"I surrender…" she panted, utterly drained.
"If you added a 'ow' to the end of that, I'd be even happier," Haru teased, eyes twinkling with mischief.
Surrender… ow?
Utaha was so mortified she leaned over and bit his neck.
Gently, of course.
After a few seconds, she tucked herself back into his chest and looked up with a flushed, helpless face. "You really want to hear it?"
"I really do."
Haru didn't even try to play it cool.
Utaha bit her lip, her beautiful eyes flickering between sha and hesitation.
Finally, face scarlet, she muttered, "…Surrender ow."
Haru was thrilled.
Since Utaha had snuck over without permission again, she didn't dare stay long.
She had gone all-in earlier—her strategy was speedrun… no, correction: getting speedrun.
Now dressed again, she slipped out to grab juice, not daring to linger.
Haru had just finished tidying up and stepped outside…
…only to lock eyes with Yukino, who'd just opened her door across the hall.
Before he could say a word, she gave a cold smile. "You should be grateful I didn't do a room check tonight."
A chill ran down Haru's spine. Oh no, I'm so dead.
Yukino's smile deepened. "If soone does sothing wrong, they should be punished. Don't you agree, Haru?"
"I agree. Completely agree." Haru raised his hand, confessing like a model student.
"Good," she said sweetly. "Then later, I'd like you to co outside with . You'll be playing the Thinker."
Haru's face froze.
The Thinker—Auguste Rodin's famous sculpture—depicts a giant hunched over, elbow on his knee, hand on his chin, silently watching the tragedy below. His expression of anguish and inner tornt makes the pain almost tangible.
Clearly, Yukino's punishnt was to have him strike that pose… in public.
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