Eirin felt Coleen’s hand holding hers as she muttered, "Isn’t this weird?" In which Eirin couldn’t agree more. The creaking sound of wooden stairs caused Coleen to stumble as they walked upstairs. They couldn’t be more glad that Eirin was holding the young girl’s hand before she fell face first.
"That sound surprised ," Coleen whispered as she moved closer to Eirin.
"The females may use the room down the hall, but you males shall follow ."
Coleen and Eirin watched the woman lead Link and Shade to another hall after they arrived on the second floor. Link looked back with his eyes filled with worries. ’They’ll be fine, right?’ he thought while watching the two girls walk away.
Arriving at the end of the hall, Eirin opened the door to the small room. Two beds were seen, but Eirin sneezed when she got inside. Dust filled the room, and everything was in a ss.
"I think we need to clean up first."
Eirin saw how the bedsheets and everything inside the room were dust-covered. This caused her to wonder how this inn could give custors such a room, and the village chief’s guest at that, too.
"I’ll ask the clerk for new bedsheets," Coleen said.
Eirin nodded and inspected one of the cabinets, letting her see so cleaning utensils. "For now, I’ll be sweeping the floor with these."
Who would even think they have to clean their room in this lodging? Despite that, the cleaning began. The two girls did their best to make the room inhabitable and squeaky clean, even though the things inside looked old and rusty. They should at least have proper rest tonight.
"I’m so tired!"
Coleen lay on the new and clean bedsheet the mont they finished cleaning.
"I want a warm bath now."
Eirin wiped the sweat off her temples as she sat on the wooden chair in front of the bed by the window. "I rember seeing a sign about an open bath behind the inn. Would you want to go there after?"
"Really? Would it be fine with you?" Coleen’s eyes twinkled in excitent, but her voice hinted hesitation.
With a smile, Eirin said, "It’s fine. I just need to sit for five more minutes before bathing."
Coleen giggled and hopped in happiness. The way she showed such a bright smile surprised Eirin. That once cold appearance of her turned shining, causing Eirin to wonder if everything that had happened between them was real or if the hostility Coleen showed was a re illusion created by the lively grove.
’How could soone go through a drastic change in just days?’
Even before leaving the Senerra Academy, Coleen was still hostile, but seeing this new vibe made Eirin smile. She listened to Coleen while she talked about how excited she was to soak herself in an outdoor bath. The teenage girl didn’t even wait five minutes to see how exhilarated her companion was.
The two girls walked down to the inn’s first floor and asked the clerk about the outdoor bath. Turns out that it is free of charge to take a bath there as long as they have a room in the inn. Coleen pulled Eirin without hesitation while they held their towels in their arms.
"It’ll be my first ti taking an outdoor bath," Coleen exclaid as they entered the dressing room. She pulled one of the baskets, removed her ribbon, and started unbuttoning her uniform.
Eirin followed and removed her skirt while Coleen untied her twin tails, letting Eirin see how long her purple hair was; it reached her buttocks.
"I never noticed it, but your hair’s really long."
Coleen’s face turned flushed as she pulled her hair in front and covered her face. "Does it look ugly?"
Eirin blinked three tis and imdiately shook her hands. "No! Not at all." Her heart thumped louder as she worried about causing another misunderstanding between them.
"I-I’ve been worried about my long hair for a while now... but I don’t want to cut it off."
Eirin smiled. "I think it suits you. It’s adorable." The teenage girl wrapped a towel over her body, and Coleen did the sa as leaving the changing room for the outdoor bath.
Coleen’s eyes twinkled as she road her vision. "It’s huge." The humongous rock surrounded the corner of the water, making Coleen smile as her eyes soon noticed the marble gravel flooring.
"Look! There’s a hot spring near the dog statue as well. How cute! This is so fun! I’d like to know which one we should try first.
The pure excitent caused the young girl to not know where to look first or how to even react. All she could say was how beautiful the outdoor bath was compared to the inn they were staying at. Seeing her like that brought giggles to the teenage girl.
"Shut up."
Eirin felt shivers down her spine as her eyes went wide. She imdiately turned around in search of the man as she held her towel, covering her body tightly, but he was nowhere to be seen.
"Strange, why do I hear that fire jerk’s voice?" Coleen’s forehead creased. "If Shade’s around here, in the won’s outdoor bath, that’ll make him a perverted guy, doesn’t it?"
"What did you say!?"
Eirin sighed in relief upon noticing the huge wooden wall, much like a partition between the won’s and n’s bath. She shook her head and walked towards the hot spring. As soon as she dipped her right foot into the water, the warmth touching her skin made her sigh. The mont she soaked her whole body, it was as if the fatigue imdiately washed away.
"This is so relaxing."
"You’re right," Coleen sat in front of Eirin with her eyes closed and leaned on the rock behind. "The water’s not too hot for ."
Eirin smiled as she stared at the girl in front of her. Seeing her like that reminded her of soone else, and her heart soon ached.
"Uhm, I need to say sothing to you, Ei."
Eirin flinched after hearing Coleen call her by that nickna. "W-What is it?"
"I’m sorry."
Eirin blinked tons of tis. "Sorry? For what?"
Coleen stared at her reflection on the water before looking right back into Eirin’s eyes.
"I’m sorry for being an to you. It was unreasonable, and I know my actions must have hurt you. I was being such a child, and I want to apologize. If that was done to , I wouldn’t be able to forgive that person... but still, I’m sorry."
Coleen fiddled with her fingers. Despite her sheepish expression, the sincerity in her voice reached Eirin.
"Link’s the only friend I got... I thought you were taking him away from , and I didn’t like that. I didn’t want that. But doing those things, I took away the chance for us to beco friends... because of my fear."
Coleen bit her lower lip. "May we start over?"
Such an unexpected turn of events left Eirin dumbfounded. She never would have thought that the cold and hostile roommate she had would offer to beco her friend.
"That’s fine with — I would love to beco your friend."
"Really? You’re not just saying that because you feel bad rejecting ? You really want to beco my friend?"
Eirin nodded and said, "I wanted to be your friend since the beginning anyway."
"Even after all the an things I said and did to you? I shouldn’t have done those... it was childish, but I can’t turn back the ti and undo everything."
"Let’s just keep those things in the past."
Coleen stood and nodded. "Thank you, Ei! I promise I’ll—" She suddenly fell on her knees, creating a loud splash after getting lightheaded due to the sudden movent.
"Are you alright?" Eirin imdiately helped Coleen and caught her before she could hurt her knees.
Coleen laughed awkwardly as they could feel the gentle breeze. "I-I’m not good with the heat," her face turning paler instead of looking all flushed. "But wow, not only your face, but your body also looks pretty. Are those real boobs?"
Eirin blinked many tis after her head couldn’t process what she had just heard.
"Please, we can hear you from here," Link said, causing Eirin’s face to turn red like a cherry.
Eirin picked Coleen up and forced her to leave the bath since it looked like the other girl was about to pass out. They took a normal temperature bath before going back to the lodging. However, despite staying in the hot spring for a while, Eirin could feel Coleen’s freezing hand.
"Why are your hands so cold?"
Coleen tilted her head. "Oh, I don’t know. Do you think it has to do with being used to cold places?"
Eirin shrugged as Coleen’s words did not seem to make any sense. This left Eirin worried for Coleen. Seeing how pale Coleen’s face reminded her of Ava terrifies her just thinking of it.
’There’s no way... right?’ Eirin thought as she watched Coleen walk in front of her.
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