The Night Stillness
"[Pikiiiiin!]"
Without attachnt, without thought, in a state of nothingness. Through ditation, I send my consciousness deep into the depths of my heart or far beyond into the vast emptiness. Inside the salt sauna.
But it's a good ti, so there are quite a few people inside the salt sauna.
However, I mustn't let the bustling presence of people disturb my concentration, nor should I let the rising heat of the sauna break my focus. When the mind is extinguished, even fire becos cool, they say. Though the monk who said that supposedly died while ditating in a sauna.
No one likes to start a conversation with soone sitting in the salt sauna with a mountain of salt on their head while ditating. They probably think I'm quite eccentric. But these are re worldly matters.
As I concentrate, the channel to the spirits of salt once again opens.
"[Pikiiiiin!]"
((()))
I still can't make out what they're saying. But I can feel sothing like consciousness or emotion directed towards . That's fine; I just need to face them and let our hearts ld together.
(Zazan Zazan)
"Huh!? (Bam!)"
Wait? Oh, I see. I'm inside the sauna. It feels like I've been drifting across a vast ocean for a long ti.
Oh, it's been an hour and a half already. It seems that when I ditate in the salt sauna, it naturally becos a 90-minute session. I wonder if there's any significance to that. No, no, I ca with Seki-san to the super sento. I did ntion taking a long bath, but I've kept her waiting for quite a while. I need to get out soon.
""
As I step outside and search for Serai-san, I see her sitting on a sofa, sipping a drink and swaying her limbs listlessly. It seems I made her wait a bit. Amidst the people walking around in their yukata, Serai-san in her white clothes looks a bit out of place.
"Sorry, I'm late."
"Nah Want to grab sothing to eat?"
Huh? What's wrong with her? She seems unusually low-energy. Normally, Seki-san would scold , saying sothing like, "You're so late!".
""
We walk side by side, and I sneak a peek at her profile, but she remains expressionless. She's not angry, but she doesn't seem amused either. That's the kind of face she's making. I recall her making that face when she was studying, hunched over her notes.
"Serai-san, what do you want to eat?"
But I'm not very attuned to the subtleties of a woman's heart, so the best I can co up with to improve her mood is to offer her food. Damn How does soone like Kagura manage to keep girls happy with him?
"Um, how about tempura and soba?"
"Oh, sounds good! I've sweated a lot, so I'd like a salty soba soup. And I'd like so crispy tempura to go with it. Hmm, my mouth's watering"
"Ahaha, well, I do have my salt in the sauna, you know!"
"Well, that's true, but salt is only aningful when it complents a dish, right?"
"I see, salt that complents a dish (muttering)"
"Hmm What's wrong?"
"Nothing. Oh, there's a vacant seat over there, Master!"
"(Zzz! Zabazo-zo-zo! Mugu-mugu Crunch! Mogu-mogu)"
"(Zzz! Zururu Mogu-mogu)"
Sitting across from each other at the table, we enjoy a serving of zaru soba (cold soba noodles) and assorted tempura.
When Serai-san eats with , her manners seem slightly less refined. But when it cos to noodles, it's probably proper to slurp them with enthusiasm. And rather than eating delicately, it's more enjoyable to see soone, even a girl like Serai-san, who eats heartily.
"Seki-san, is sothing wrong? You seem a bit down today."
It might be considered a form of kindness not to ask, but I was genuinely concerned. So I decided to inquire. In situations like this, I have no idea which approach is the right one.
"Well, um it's just that various things, you know (Crunch, munch)"
Serai-san mumbles as she takes a bite of shrimp tempura and chews.
Hmm, I wonder which one it is. Is this a sign that ans "Don't ask any further"? Yeah, it probably is. There have been various issues, like the stalker problem and whatnot. If she was also attacked by the stalker's mother. She must have been through a lot. She probably doesn't want to think about that.
Afterward, Serai-san talked about how delicious the turtle hot pot was and didn't discuss her worries or anything further.
..
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