After dinner, by the ti they returned to Harugamo Inn, the sky had already gone completely dark.
Moreover, it could now be said to be winter. Compared to before, night fell much earlier.
Back in the room, Kotomi and the other two changed into their yukata, preparing to head to the hot springs shortly.
Kotomi Izumi was the fastest to change. Even when she was about to be late for school, she had never dressed this quickly.
Rather, if she really was late, Kotomi would instead take her ti putting on her clothes, eat breakfast at a leisurely pace, and then stroll off to school with her bag, completely unhurried.
In her view, once you were already late, rushing wouldn't change anything. You'd still be late either way. Better to go at your own pace.
Akina Izumi often teased her precious eldest daughter about this: "Even armor-piercing rounds might not be able to penetrate Kotomi's thick skin."
The reason Kotomi changed into her yukata so quickly now wasn't because she was eager to soak in the hot springs. She was no longer the little child who, upon seeing a hotel swimming pool, would imdiately have her mind filled with thoughts of bringing a float ring and splashing around.
Besides, Harugamo Inn only had hot spring baths, not a swimming pool. It wasn't as if they could swim in the hot spring.
Kotomi had changed quickly for one simple reason—to finish before Yui and Yukino, then sit beneath the kotatsu and comfortably enjoy its warmth while half-closing her beautiful eyes to admire the lovely sight of Yui and Yukino changing into their yukata.
Faced with Kotomi's gaze, Yui rely blushed slightly but said nothing.
After all, the relationship between her and Kotomi had long since heated up to a blazing intensity. They were no longer the kind of foolish couple who would hesitate shyly for ages just to hold hands. Naturally, Yui didn't feel overly embarrassed under Kotomi's gaze.
With cheeks faintly flushed, Yui returned a shy look to Kotomi. Not a single word was spoken, yet the atmosphere between them subtly and unconsciously began to warm, tinged with orange and pink.
If Yukino hadn't been present at that mont, perhaps Yui and Kotomi would have delayed going to the hot springs just a little longer...
Yukino Yukinoshita didn't notice that the silent exchange of glances between Kotomi and Yui had once again raised the temperature between them, even though not a sound had been made—yet it felt as though countless words had passed.
When she sensed Kotomi's gaze, Yukino assud Kotomi was looking only at her.
First, she honestly felt a secret thrill, as if she had won against Yui for once.
Then, out of habit, she revealed her cool and tsundere side. With a faint blush on her cheeks, she shot Kotomi an annoyed glare before turning around haughtily, as though silently declaring, "Stop looking!"
Kotomi had indeed been looking at Yukino—but not at her alone. Her gaze had been on both Yui and Yukino at the sa ti.
Since Yukino forbade her from looking, Kotomi didn't show much disappointnt. Instead, she shifted her full attention to Yui.
This wasn't entirely an attempt to play hard to get... Well, perhaps there was a tiny bit of that intention. But the main reason was that Kotomi understood clearly that Yukino had not yet beco her girlfriend. Just now, she had openly watched Yukino change into her yukata and deliberately allowed her gaze to be noticed because she wanted to test Yukino's current attitude.
Why is it that so many people get rejected when they confess to soone they like?
It isn't because the atmosphere wasn't set well enough. In fact, when it cos to a successful confession, atmosphere is rely the icing on the cake—it's never the deciding factor.
Even if the other person impulsively agrees because of the mood, once they calm down, they may gradually begin to regret it, grow distant, and eventually find an opportunity to break up.
If you want a higher success rate when confessing, you need to carefully test the waters beforehand.
How should you test them? How many tis? What should be different each ti?
It's just like conducting experints in a lab class. You record the data from each trial, list the similarities and differences, and analyze the results.
Testing before a confession works the sa way. Divide it into several attempts. Be clear in your own mind about what you want to learn each ti. After several rounds, analyze the other person's attitude during each one.
That way, you can clearly determine when the right mont to confess is—and, based on your current relationship, what the probability of success might be.
As a side note, if during the first or subsequent tests you clearly sense that the other person intends to reject you, then don't waste ti. Cut it off cleanly.
Don't cling stubbornly, thinking that maybe one day you'll move them. That path easily turns you into a pathetic simp.
There are plenty of fish in the sea. Why fixate on a single flower?
Love should always be equal—balanced between two people of comparable standing. If you trade humility and pleading for affection, what you receive isn't love, but charity. The positions within that relationship are destined to be unequal.
Parents raise their children hoping they will grow up with dignity and self-respect—not so they can beco soone else's doormat.
Alright, end of the aside.
After all three of them finished changing into their yukata, they headed toward the hot spring baths.
Halfway there, Kotomi murmured,
"I wonder how deep the hot spring pools at Harugamo Inn are? It'd be nice if they were a bit deeper—then we could treat them like a swimming pool."
"They probably won't be very deep. So of the guests might not know how to swim," Yukino replied.
"Speaking of which, you two might not know this, but whenever I went to a hotel as a kid, if I saw it had a swimming pool, my entire mind would be fixated on it. The mont I got to the room, I'd rush to change into my swimsuit so I could hurry to the pool and play in the water.
"I don't know if I just had too much energy back then, but even after spending the whole day in the pool, I wouldn't feel tired.
"Now... heh. I can barely rember how long it's been since I last went swimming.
"Even though I have an annual mbership at a gym in the city center that has a swimming pool, I haven't gone in a long ti."
Kotomi chuckled softly.
Of course, part of the reason she hadn't gone swimming lately was simple laziness. The other reason was... she had forgotten which drawer in her bedroom contained her swimsuit, goggles, and swim cap. She was too lazy to search through them, and she didn't want to spend money buying new ones.
And so, she had thoroughly ditched the whole idea of swimming and working out altogether.
After listening to Kotomi Izumi, Yukino Yukinoshita said in surprise, "I didn't realize before—you actually like swimming."
"Maybe it's because my na has the character for 'sea' in it, so I've always felt an inexplicable closeness to water.
"My mom once said that when children are little, they often cry during bath ti because they don't understand what's happening and feel scared—especially when washing their hair. But every ti I took a bath, I wasn't afraid of water at all. Not only did I not cry, I would laugh happily instead.
"Other kids couldn't wait for bath ti to be over. If it took even a little longer, they'd wail loudly for quite a while.
"I was the opposite. I liked taking baths slowly. If it ended too quickly, I'd feel like it wasn't enough and start crying loudly instead. Every ti she talks about my childhood, my mom sighs and says:
"'When you were little, the easiest thing about raising you was bath ti. You were especially well-behaved—just sitting there quietly. I don't know if it's because you were too obedient in the bath, but after your little sister Aimi was born, every ti we bathed her, she could cry nonstop at full volu for over ten minutes. It was as if we weren't giving her a bath, but about to throw her into a pot of boiling oil.'
"My silly little sister didn't stop being afraid of baths until she was several years old. Before that, I rember it clearly—even after the bathroom door was closed, it couldn't block out her crying. From my bedroom on the second floor, I could still clearly hear her sobbing because she didn't dare take a bath."
Kotomi spoke cheerfully, not forgetting, as a good older sister, to expose a bit of her silly little sister's embarrassing childhood history.
"I always thought your sister was the type who's been elegant and dignified since childhood," Yukino said.
Although she had t Aimi before, she didn't really understand her personality.
After all, they had t far too few tis to truly grasp what kind of person she was.
The first ti had been when Kotomi was sick. Yukino and gumi Kato had gone together to the Izumi household to visit her, and it was Aimi Izumi who opened the door.
Though upon seeing gumi Kato, Aimi had clearly wanted to slam it shut.
The second ti had been at the recent cultural festival. Aside from a few polite words when they first t, they hadn't spoken much afterward. Yukino wasn't the type to initiate conversation, and Aimi's attention had been focused entirely on Kotomi while she watched gumi Kato warily.
Having t only twice and exchanged almost no dialogue, Yukino could only guess Aimi's personality based on her appearance.
Aimi Izumi did indeed possess the air of a refined young lady. That was why Yukino had assud she had always been particularly poised and elegant.
Precisely because of that impression, she found it surprising to hear Kotomi recount Aimi's childhood fear of bathing and loud crying fits.
Kotomi smiled faintly.
"A refined young lady? Haha. 'Shut-in girl' fits her much better."
"A shut-in?" Yukino asked, puzzled.
Faced with Yukino's confusion, Kotomi rely smiled without explaining. She still needed to preserve a bit of dignity for her silly little sister. She couldn't exactly say outright: 'My sister's favorite thing now is staying at ho playing gal gas. When she gets to especially sweet scenes, she rolls around on the bed giggling to herself.'
There was still so distance before they reached the hot springs. To ease the topic to a gentle close, Kotomi added,
"Actually, when I was little and traveled with my parents, I'd get incredibly excited whenever we arrived at a hotel and I discovered it had a swimming pool. It wasn't just because I liked playing in the water. There was another reason. Want to know?"
At the end, she deliberately left Yukino in suspense.
"You're so eager to build suspense that if I say I don't want to know, you probably won't sleep all night," Yukino replied with a faint smile.
"Yukino, let's negotiate sothing. Next ti you're about to smile, could you tell a minute in advance? If that's too much, even thirty seconds would do. I really want to capture your smile!"
"Didn't I already tell you how to capture my smile? Just follow the thod I gave you."
Yukino continued smiling as she spoke. But the mont she saw Kotomi reaching toward her pocket to take out her phone, she instantly withdrew her smile.
"I can't possibly stare at you twenty-four hours a day, can I?"
Seeing Yukino's smile vanish, Kotomi stopped reaching for her phone.
"I've already told you the thod. Whether you follow it or not is your own decision."
Yukino let out a soft huff. After speaking, even she felt slightly startled. Since when had her way of speaking begun to change like this?
Since she hadn't succeeded in capturing Yukino's smile, Kotomi didn't continue with the second reason. Instead, she turned to chat with Yui about whether they should drink strawberry juice or coffee milk after soaking in the hot springs.
Hmph. This level of suspense is really childish. Does she think I'd actually fall for it? Say it or don't say it—whatever! Yukino thought arrogantly.
After a while—less than a minute, to be precise—Yukino realized she actually had fallen for Kotomi's suspense just a little bit. But her pride wouldn't allow her to admit it openly. She cleared her throat softly and said in a small voice,
"I-If you want to tell the second reason, I suppose it's not impossible..."
Before she could finish, Kotomi's teasing voice drifted over.
"I don't want to tell you anymore."
"You—!"
Kotomi's mischievous move instantly made Yukino's cheeks flush red, her tone both embarrassed and annoyed.
"Unless you let take a picture of your smile," Kotomi added, seizing the opportunity to state her condition.
"I..."
"Otherwise, no deal."
Yukino hadn't even begun to bargain, yet Kotomi left no room for negotiation.
After thinking for a long ti, Yukino still couldn't co up with a perfect response. How could a proud and tsundere little tigress possibly match wits with a cunning little fox like Kotomi? In the end, she could only say helplessly,
"Heh. As expected of Miss Izumi. You're quite flexible with your business negotiation tactics."
"Go on, keep praising ~" Kotomi replied shalessly.
Originally, Kotomi had even planned to lean her cheek closer and tell Yukino, If you admire that much, I'll allow you to kiss .
But after glancing at Yui beside her, she reconsidered and dismissed the idea.
Kotomi knew she was a bit of a scoundrel. She couldn't possibly love only one girl.
But...
Even a little scoundrel has a tenderness that belongs only to her.
—
—
40 Advanced Chapters Available on Patreon:
Patreon/DaoOfHeaven
User Comments
0 comments from readers