Chapter 386

Drip.

A drop of sauce fell onto Hiyori's upper chest just as she brought the yakitori to her mouth.

Casually scooping it up with her finger, she was about to wipe it on a tissue—but when she caught me staring, one corner of her mouth curled up.

Then she held out her sauce-covered index finger.

"Say ah."

She was acting awfully bold. Her face would turn bright red if I actually sucked on it.

It was like watching a maiden pretend to be a pervert.

What was the technical term for that again? I couldn't quite remember.

"Don't do anything weird."

"What's weird about this? I'm just trying to feed you because it's a waste of sauce."

"Just tie your robe properly. Stop deliberately showing off your chest."

"It's fashion."

"How is wearing a robe fashion? Are you going to cover up or not?"

"No."

"You're not going to listen, are you?"

"I'm not. Ah, it hurts...! It hurts...! Don't hit me...!"

As I strode toward the haughty Hiyori, she kicked up a fuss with some terrible acting.

I looked down at her instant transformation into a pitiful victim with a dumbfounded expression, then properly tightened her loose robe.

"Please, stop exposing yourself all the time. You'll get caught by some weird host again like last time, you know?"

"Where would there be a host around here?"

"It's just a figure of speech. Anyway, keep my words in mind. Got it?"

"Dunno."

"I figured you'd say that. Just eat your skewer before it gets cold."

"Why aren't you eating, sunbae-nim?"

"I'm going to eat at the Hotel restaurant."

"You can just eat a skewer and then eat a meal at the restaurant."

"My stomach isn't that big."

"What are you talking about? You can just eat less at the Hotel. Stop complaining and take a bite of mine."

Hiyori held the skewer up to my lips.

Her pose was needlessly confident, but subtly cute.

Chuckling at her tomboyish behavior, I bit into the chicken thigh meat at the top of the skewer.

The juices burst in my mouth, elevating the texture; it tasted remarkably good.

Did they have some sort of secret recipe? No wonder they had so many customers... I should bring Miyuki here later.

"It's delicious, right?"

"Yeah. It's good."

"Do you want another bite?"

"Stop forcing it on me."

"How is this forcing it! I'm giving it to you because I care about you, sunbae-nim!"

"Alright. Stop yelling."

"Annoying."

Hiyori took a huge bite of the skewer.

Thinking she looked pretty eating so heartily without pretending to be demure, I headed back toward the beach alongside the grumbling, skewer-munching Hiyori.

Right then— "Asahina!"

A male voice, brimming with delight, called out from behind us.

Wondering what it was, I looked back and saw a guy walking briskly toward us.

Was he a student from Hiyori's class? His face looked familiar, so I figured he was.

"Hi, Kobayashi."

She waved her empty hand, the one not holding the skewer.

The guy waved back at her, gave my face a sweeping glance, and asked, "What are you doing here? The others are waiting, aren't you going to hang out with us?"

It was obvious just by looking that she was hanging out with me, yet he didn't hesitate to say something so rude.

Things like this often happened when I was with Hiyori.

That is, the jealous glares of other guys.

It felt a bit like seeing Tetsuya get jealous over Miyuki and me, which suddenly made me feel nauseous.

"I told you I was going to hang out with my sunbae-nim today. But aren't you going to say hello?"

"Huh?"

"You should greet my sunbae-nim."

"Oh, I didn't realize he was a sunbae-nim. Hello."

The male student named Kobayashi gave a curt nod.

He didn't seem like a delinquent, but he was a little irritating.

I could see in his actions and tone that he was subtly trying to look down on me.

I wanted to respond with the exact same attitude, but I figured that acting polite and agreeable would raise Hiyori's affection level for me even more.

Having made my judgment, I smiled at the guy and said, "Yeah, hi."

At that, Hiyori spoke to Kobayashi in a teasing tone.

"I told you I was going to hang out with a sunbae-nim, so if there's someone next to me, it's obviously him. Are you an idiot, Kobayashi?"

"I guess so?"

"Anyway, I have to help my sunbae-nim and the Student Council, so you guys go hang out by yourselves."

"Student Council?"

Kobayashi tilted his head in confusion.

He seemed to feel a significant disconnect at the idea of Hiyori—who actively avoided the Student Council—helping them out.

Hiyori was lying so she could spend time with me, but her excuse didn't quite line up.

Chuckling inwardly, I lightly tapped Hiyori's back as Kobayashi walked away with a regretful expression after exchanging a few more words with her.

"Why would you tell a lie like that?"

"It's fine as long as I didn't get caught. Anyway, let's head back to the ocean."

"Change out of your swimsuit first."

"But this is the only swimsuit I brought?"

"You must've brought a T-shirt and shorts, right?"

"You want me to go into the ocean wearing those?"

"Yeah."

"I don't want to. Why should I change out of clothes specifically made for swimming?"

"If you wanted to swim, you should have brought a full-body swimsuit like a school swimsuit."

"I don't care. I'm going in just like this. Also, my legs hurt from all your nagging, sunbae-nim, so give me a piggyback ride."

Hiyori's gaze dropped to my arms.

She seemed to remember how I had supported her butt in the water earlier.

Looking at her slightly flushing face, I laughed in amusement and said, "Stop making weird demands. Just finish your skewer first."

"Then do I not have to change my swimsuit?"

"You can go as you are, but you have to go back and change as soon as we're done playing in the water. Don't go wandering around trying to show yourself off for no reason."

"Alright."

Hiyori nodded obediently.

I pulled the loosely tied sash of the robe around her waist a bit tighter.

Afterward, I let Hiyori's complaints—asking why I was tying the sash so tightly and whether I was trying to suffocate her—go in one ear and out the other as I returned to the ocean with her.

The time I spent playing with Hiyori wasn't long.

Two hours at most. But I felt completely drained, as if I had been playing at full throttle for at least five hours.

It was truly strange.

My body and mind were fine, but my head felt completely exhausted.

Was Hiyori a succubus, perhaps? That would explain why just being around her sapped my energy.

Glancing at Hiyori as she opened her mouth wide in a yawn, I stepped out of the elevator with her just as the doors opened.

Hiyori's room was three floors below mine.

It would have been ideal if we were on the same floor, but the room number didn't really matter anyway.

Seeing a sluggish yawn escape from Hiyori, who had turned into just as much of a limp noodle as I had—though not quite to the same extent—I said, "Go get some rest."

"I'm going to go out and meet my friends though."

"Is that so? You've got energy to spare. Make sure you change out of your swimsuit."

"But why do you keep telling me to change? Is it because it's too sexy?"

"You know it."

"Which makes me want to change even less."

If our Hiyori had been born in the old days, she would have been great at inciting rebellions.

She was so full of rebellious spirit that any king who had her as a subject probably wouldn't have been able to sleep from anxiety.

Resting my hand lightly on Hiyori's head, I looked straight down at her.

Meeting my eyes as I suddenly put on a serious expression, her playful mood dampened slightly.

"What is it?"

I firmly pressed down on Hiyori's tiny head with all five fingers and moved my hand back and forth.

Hiyori's head rocked back and forth, following the motion of my arm.

Chuckling at the cute sight, I expressed my affection for her in a casual tone.

"You really don't listen at all. You're too cute."

At that, Hiyori—who had been making a pathetic "Ughhh..." sound—sucked her plump lips inward.

It was proof that she felt incredibly shy.

She had built up some tolerance to physical touch, but she was still a long way from getting used to verbal expressions of affection.

Even so, seeing her mess around without holding back... I didn't know whether to call it pathetic or nice to watch.

Letting go of her head, I continued in a serious tone.

"Change your clothes. Got it?"

"..."

"Are you not going to answer?"

"No... I was going to. I just have to change, right?"

"Yeah. Good girl."

"Should I take a picture of what I change into and send it to you?"

It was funny how she was still joking around even in this situation, just trying to fluster me somehow.

Shrugging, I calmly brushed off Hiyori's provocation.

"We're going to meet up in the evening anyway. I can just check then."

"..."

"Right?"

"Ah, yeah... I guess so..."

Taking the lead and setting up plans so naturally left her unable to salvage the situation, and seeing her get flustered again made her look incredibly lovable.

Noticing that the pouch in Hiyori's arms was about to fall, I adjusted its position for her and gave her a wide grin.

"Have fun with your friends. I'll see you later."

"Alright..."

Giving Hiyori a very light flick on the forehead after her shy reply, I returned to my room to the sound of dragging slippers.

Afterward, I took a shower and had a phone call with Miyuki, then went down to the lobby to meet her since she had just finished her work.

Bzzzt!

A message had arrived on my way to the place Miyuki had told me about.

Upon checking it, I couldn't help but let out a hollow laugh.

Hiyori had sent me a mirror selfie she took after changing her clothes.

She was striking a rather sexy pose, as if taking a photo meant for social media.

She was wearing a tight-fitting T-shirt and shorts that dangerously revealed her underbutt; it was dumbfounding, but seeing her ridiculous provocation also made the corners of my mouth twitch.

I shouldn't send a reply. I'd just have to give her a good scolding when we met in person later.

Thinking that, I spotted Miyuki eating cake at the cafe next to the lobby with the Vice Representative and Bread Girl, and quickened my pace.

Should I try getting the three of us together for dinner tonight?

No matter how much Miyuki and Hiyori were like oil and water right now, I figured it was better to have them run into each other than to keep them apart if I wanted to improve their relationship.

I was anxious about what Hiyori might say, but... I could just smooth things over, so let's aim for that for now.