After a brief, silent exchange of looks, Tamamo Cross looked down at Kitahara beneath her and spoke calmly.
"You're awake?"
"I..."
Kitahara had been about to answer that yes, he was awake. But after looking at Tamamo Cross sitting astride him—wearing nothing but underwear and stockings, her smooth skin fully exposed, and with her hands still in the middle of pulling at his pants—he paused, then said,
"...I'm not entirely sure."
He felt like he was awake, but no matter how he looked at it, the scene in front of him was not sothing that should exist in reality.
Was he dreaming?
That possibility occurred to Kitahara, and along with it ca a faint sense of guilt.
After all, he had only just finished telling Tamamo Cross that he thought of her as family, and had repeatedly insisted he had no such feelings for her. And then the mont he turned around, he was having a dream like this. No matter how he thought about it...
Hm?
Kitahara pinched himself hard, trying to force himself awake. Then he looked at Tamamo Cross in front of him, blinked, and felt the pain from his waist.
Apparently... it wasn't a dream?
As he gradually ca back to himself, Kitahara looked at Tamamo Cross sitting on top of him, stayed silent for a mont, then asked,
"Um, Tama... what are you doing?"
"Oh, this?"
Tamamo Cross glanced at the hands with which she was currently pulling at Kitahara's pants. Her tone remained completely normal.
"Well, you'd fallen asleep on the sofa just now, and I figured you'd be uncomfortable when you woke up if you stayed there, so I moved you to the bed. Then I thought sleeping in your clothes probably wasn't great either, so I was helping take them off. But you woke up halfway through..."
"...Then what happened to your clothes?"
"Mine?"
Tamamo Cross lowered her head and looked at her own body. Her expression still didn't change.
"Oh, that. I figured the room felt a little cold, and I was worried you'd catch a chill, so I thought it'd be warr if we stayed close together. And I could rest a bit too while I was at it..."
So that was it?
After hearing Tamamo Cross's explanation, Kitahara nodded, and then—
That explains nothing!
Looking at Tamamo Cross in front of him, Kitahara scread inwardly.
Yes, Kitahara was a blockhead, and yes, he was unbelievably dense when it ca to romance, but he still possessed basic common sense and a working sense of logic.
If Tamamo Cross's explanation had been even a little more plausible, he really might have let himself be fooled. But the problem was that her current explanation was riddled with holes. Kitahara couldn't believe it even if he wanted to.
If she said she'd seen him asleep and wanted to move him to the bed so he could sleep more comfortably, sure, that part made sense.
And after moving him there, taking off so of his clothes in the na of helping him sleep more comfortably... that was still barely within the range of sothing he could accept.
But the problem was that there was no explaining why Tamamo Cross had taken off her own clothes too.
Kitahara knew this much about her: because she'd grown up in the countryside, even though she usually acted breezy and rough around the edges, she was actually extrely conservative when it ca to n and won. Otherwise, when he'd seen the event requirents at the first shop, he never would have imdiately assud she wouldn't agree to them.
In fact, even before that, when Tamamo Cross had offered the idea of coming to the hotel to rest, Kitahara had already been surprised.
Because in his understanding, even if Tamamo Cross thought of him as family, the two of them still weren't blood-related. A man and a woman going to a hotel alone on Valentine's Day to rest—it simply didn't fit Tamamo Cross's usual logic at all.
And now, forget a man and a woman resting in a hotel room.
Looking at the near-naked Tamamo Cross straddling him, Kitahara genuinely suspected that if he had woken up even a little later, sothing decidedly less harmonious might already have happened.
And just as that thought crossed his mind, another round of knocking sounded from the door. Tamamo Cross looked up toward it, then raised one leg and lightly pressed the sole of her black-stockinged foot against Kitahara's chest as she said helplessly,
"Hey. What are you still spacing out for? Soone's here for you, so get dressed already."
"Ah... right."
Only then did Kitahara rember that Ardan was still outside. If she saw him and Tamamo Cross looking like this, then even if he jumped into the Yellow River, he'd never wash himself clean.
But while Kitahara was getting up and hurriedly pulling his clothes back on, listening to the rustling sounds of dressing coming from beside him, he blinked, then belatedly realized sothing.
Wait.
Why is she so calm?
This situation was absurd. So absurd that even he found it absurd. And yet Tamamo Cross had looked exactly the sa from beginning to end, as though everything were perfectly normal. And it didn't even seem like she was pretending...
Although he was full of doubts, with Ardan still waiting outside the door, Kitahara had no ti to dig deeper into that question. After hastily getting dressed, he ran to open the door.
"Ardan-san? What brings you here?"
The mont he confird that the visitor really was jiro Ardan, Kitahara imdiately ushered her in.
"I didn't have much to do this afternoon, so I thought I'd co out for a walk and clear my head. While I was nearby, I happened to hear soone ntion your na, Trainer Kitahara, so I thought I'd co by and have a look..."
As she spoke, Ardan let her gaze drift casually into the room. When she spotted Tamamo Cross inside, she paused, then added,
"Um... did I co at a bad ti? I haven't interrupted anything, have I?"
That was, of course, a lie.
As the effective person in charge of the jiro family properties around Tracen, even if she hadn't personally arranged every Valentine's Day event, she certainly had to supervise and manage them. It was, quite simply, one of the busiest days she'd had in recent mory.
Even the chocolate she'd delivered to Kitahara that morning had only happened because she had forcibly carved ti out of her schedule. The mont she finished giving it to him, she had gone straight back to her dorm and resud coordinating things from her computer.
It wasn't until just now—when one of her people reported that the person she had specifically told them to watch had entered the hotel, accompanied by an Umamusu—that she finally dropped everything and hurried over.
Though Ardan was lying, Kitahara didn't suspect her explanation.
After all, he already knew before coming that this hotel belonged to the jiro family—more specifically, that it fell under Ardan's managent—and it was currently running an event. So it made perfect sense for her to stop by and inspect the place.
"No. If anything, your timing was perfect."
Answering Ardan's question, Kitahara recalled what had just happened and let out a sigh.
"It's like this. Tama and I were running around several nearby shops doing Valentine's Day events, and after all that running around, we got tired. One of the prizes happened to be a voucher for a stay here, so we thought we'd co rest for a bit. Then I accidentally fell asleep. If you hadn't co, I might've slept all the way until evening..."
"I see."
Ardan nodded and didn't doubt Kitahara's explanation.
After all, the event and prize structure at the largest store had been designed by her personally. She had even deliberately added several challenges ant to wear participants out and set the conditions for winning the hotel voucher quite low—all for precisely this outco.
However, although she didn't doubt Kitahara's words, as she nodded, she stole a look past him at Tamamo Cross. So unreadable emotion flickered in her eyes.
Valentine's Day. Alone together. Tricked into a hotel room. And the scent on her is that strong...
To be honest, this wasn't Ardan's first day knowing Tamamo Cross. But up until now, she'd held the sa opinion everyone else did: that among the mbers of Kitahara's team, Tamamo Cross was one of the very few who did not have that kind of interest in him.
And yet today, the one who had looked the most normal, the most harmless, had gone and done sothing that even an ordinary lowly girl would struggle to pull off. It left Ardan genuinely surprised.
With that in mind, Ardan smiled and shifted her gaze away, sending Tamamo Cross a look that very clearly said, So you're this kind of person too.
What Ardan didn't understand, however, was that after eting such an obvious look, Tamamo Cross rely paused to think for a second, then returned a baffled expression.
What is this woman doing?
A trace of confusion appeared in Tamamo Cross's eyes as she looked at Ardan in the doorway.
She knew Ardan liked Kitahara, and she could tell perfectly well what that look ant.
The problem was that she had no idea what Ardan thought she herself had done to deserve it.
She hadn't even stepped onto the battlefield. She had absolutely no interest in Kitahara in that sense. If anything, throughout this entire war she had been acting as a diator and protector.
And yet now Ardan was looking at her like this...
Had she misunderstood?
Glancing around the room, Tamamo Cross decided that was very likely.
Then I'd better clear this up fast. If she spreads this misunderstanding around, things are going to get really hard for later...
Thinking that, Tamamo Cross raised her head, looked at Kitahara, and sighed.
"I an, how long are you going to keep standing in the doorway? Ardan's been waiting outside forever."
Only then did Kitahara snap out of it. He stepped aside and invited Ardan inside.
Seeing Tamamo Cross suddenly take the initiative to welco her in, a flicker of confusion crossed Ardan's eyes.
Strange. Logically speaking, I should have interrupted Tamamo Cross's plans, and judging by the scent in the room, probably at a crucial point. By all rights, she ought to be angry. But right now...
Watching Tamamo Cross take the initiative to invite her in, then cooperate with Kitahara in explaining what had happened, even throwing in her usual complaints along the way, all while appearing completely normal, Ardan fell into thought.
How odd. I don't rember Tamamo Cross being the sort who's good at hiding things. So why can't I see the slightest crack in her behavior now...?
Could it be I was overthinking this?
And so, after Ardan was invited inside, the three of them spent so ti chatting about the various events they'd done earlier.
As they talked, Kitahara suddenly rembered what he'd seen at those stores, along with the rumors that Ardan was in charge of this whole area, and asked curiously,
"Oh, right. Ardan-san, I rember you saying before that you were the one managing the jiro family businesses around Tracen. And the stores I visited earlier all seed to have sothing to do with the jiro family..."
"Mm. I'm in charge of most of them."
Ardan admitted it imdiately.
"Then these events today...?"
"I know all about them. Quite a few of them were arranged by ."
Seeing the obvious curiosity on Kitahara's face, the corners of Ardan's mouth lifted slightly.
"What is it, Trainer Kitahara? Judging by that expression, do you think today's events were very strange? That they didn't fit normal business logic at all?"
"Mm."
Kitahara nodded honestly.
"To tell the truth, I was still thinking about that up until I fell asleep earlier. I even wondered at one point whether it was the bad taste of so old people, before I rembered you were in charge of this area, Ardan-san..."
After a pause, he added, "Um, if this is sothing awkward to talk about, or so kind of trade secret, then don't worry about it. I'm just a little curious, so don't force yourself..."
"There's nothing I can't say."
Ardan smiled, then turned to look out the window, at the tall buildings beyond, and spoke slowly.
"Trainer Kitahara, do you know what the jiro family's most important line of business is?"
Without waiting for him to answer, she continued, "Real estate. Especially real estate connected to Umamusu."
Hearing that, Kitahara froze for a mont, then slowly began to realize sothing, and his expression turned strange.
"Wait, Ardan-san... don't tell you an..."
"Yes. Exactly what you're thinking."
Ardan turned back to him and smiled.
"Compared to property sales, the profit lost through today's discounts is negligible. But if events like this can create even just two more couples, then once they start building a household together, the demand for housing naturally goes up..."
Though of course, they might not form a household. Still, basents were one of the jiro family's major product lines too.
And aside from ordinary houses and basents, the jiro family also possessed one thing that could truly be called a trump card in the world of Umamusu real estate—the legendary jiro Castle.
There were countless rumors about jiro Castle, both good and bad, but the jiro family's own definition of it was actually very simple: a high-quality living district specifically designed to serve Umamusu and Trainers.
It had a comrcial zone modeled after the environnt around Tracen Main Campus, along with dedicated training grounds, racetracks, parks of all sizes, entertainnt facilities, basents, and every other kind of support feature one could imagine.
And beyond that, jiro Castle maintained an excellent atmosphere. While the family didn't rely on any heavy-handed enforcent, they cultivated Umamusu culture there extrely well.
Many famous Umamusu and Trainers moved there directly after graduating. And once there, they would find no shortage of familiar faces. Even though they had left the academy behind, the place still carried the uncanny feeling of continuing academy life in another location.
Under those circumstances, the profit lost on today's Valentine's Day events didn't even amount to a fraction of the profit made by getting a single Umamusu to settle in jiro Castle.
At the sa ti, it let the jiro family offer a bit of help to Umamusu struggling financially, earn goodwill for the family, and pick up so potential custors outside of jiro Castle too.
It was basically Qin Shi Huang touching an electrical wire—winning so hard it was absurd.
Once Ardan brought up real estate, Kitahara combined that with bits of information he'd heard before and quickly pieced together the whole picture.
But unlike what Ardan had expected, Kitahara's attention wasn't caught by how devilishly clever the business logic was. Instead, his first thought was of the colleagues at Tracen who vanished every year, and the look in his eyes as he turned toward Ardan grew increasingly subtle.
Wow. If you look at it that way, then the reason Tracen's ended up like this probably has a lot to do with how much effort the jiro family's been putting in behind the scenes...
That said, it wasn't really sothing worth condemning. After all, the jiros weren't forcing anyone to do these challenges. If anything, they were taking the opportunity to help out so Umamusu from poorer backgrounds.
So while Kitahara found the whole thing faintly weird, after giving it so thought, he didn't make any comnt on Ardan's business logic. After nodding to show he understood, he was about to change the subject.
But just as he was thinking about what to say next after hearing Ardan's explanation, Tamamo Cross's voice suddenly ca from behind him, tinged with confusion.
"It disappeared..."
"What disappeared?"
Hearing that, Kitahara turned around in puzzlent and looked at Tamamo Cross.
Tamamo Cross didn't answer imdiately. Instead, she gave him another careful look up and down, nodded, and muttered,
"Looks like it disappeared the mont you woke up..."
"What are you talking about?"
Kitahara raised an eyebrow at Tamamo Cross's cryptic manner.
"What disappeared? You're being really weird right now..."
"No matter how weird I am, I'm still not as weird as you, okay?"
Tamamo Cross raised her head toward Kitahara and organized her thoughts a little.
"You probably won't believe if I say this, but I really did see it. After you fell asleep, a lot of light started coming off you. Like fireflies... it was actually pretty."
"What are you talking about? Did you get punchy?"
A trace of helplessness appeared on Kitahara's face as he looked at Tamamo Cross, whose expression was utterly sincere.
"I'm not a light bulb, and I'm not so ancient giant either. How could my body possibly start glow—"
As he spoke, Kitahara suddenly realized sothing. His voice gradually dropped off, and his body slowly stiffened.
"What's wrong, Trainer Kitahara?"
Ardan noticed the change in him, but Kitahara had no attention to spare for her. He simply stared fixedly at Tamamo Cross in front of him. After a long silence, he spoke again.
"Tama. I need to confirm this with you again. Just now, after I fell asleep, light ca off my body?"
"Yeah."
Tamamo Cross nodded.
"Mostly white, with a bit of pale pink mixed in. It spread outward kind of like glowing stones, and so of it was circling around you. I wanted to wake you up at the ti, but you looked like you were sleeping really comfortably, so I didn't say anything. Then after you woke up, the light disappeared on its own..."
"Tamamo-san, are you sure you didn't see it wrong?"
Ardan blinked from the side.
"Maybe you didn't notice, but this hotel actually has so hidden lighting. Perhaps when Trainer Kitahara fell asleep, he accidentally touched so—?"
jiro Ardan's voice stopped abruptly.
Because right in front of her, Kitahara raised one hand, and a halo of interwoven white and pale pink light slowly began winding itself around it, giving off an almost holy impression.
At the sa ti the glow lit up on his hand, Kitahara stared fixedly at Tamamo Cross and asked in a grave voice,
"Tama. Tell . Was this the kind of light you saw?"
Seeing the light on Kitahara's hand, Tamamo Cross looked surprised for a mont. Then, after coming back to herself, she nodded slowly.
"Yeah. That's it. Exactly the sa. Though I've got to say, I really didn't expect you to actually glow. I was seriously starting to think maybe I'd imagined it..."
As she spoke, Tamamo Cross noticed that Kitahara's expression wasn't right, and asked with concern,
"What's wrong? Is there sothing bad about that light? Is it going to affect you sohow?"
In response to Tamamo Cross's question, Kitahara let the light fade from his hand. After a few seconds of silence, he let out a deep sigh.
"No. There's nothing wrong with the light itself. And it won't do anything to ."
As he said that, he raised his head and looked directly at Tamamo Cross, a complicated emotion entering his eyes.
"But I'm afraid... the effect this thing has on you might be a bit serious."
---
T/N: oooooooooooooooooh i knew tama wasnt like that! its' all kitaharas fault!!!!!!!!! ur corrupting tama!
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