âWhy donât you go back to your room?ă..Itâs already late.â
Yuzuru smiled at his sister, Ayumi, who was lingering in his room.
There were three rooms that the Takasegawa family rented at the hotel.
One room was reserved for Kazuya and Sayori, and the other two rooms were reserved for Yuzuru and Ayumi respectively.
However, Ayumi stayed in Yuzuruâs room all the time even though she had her own room.
Iâm bored, but I donât want to waste time playing games on my phone when Iâm on vacation.
That was Ayumiâs argument.
Yuzuru could understand her feelings, so he played chess, shogi, poker, mahjong, and other games with her.
Their parents, Kazuya and Sayori, were playing at the casino, leaving their two children alone.
Yuzuru and Ayumi wanted to follow them to the casino, but the law did not allow them to do soâŠ
âYeah.â
âItâs not âyeahâ⊠I donât know if youâll be able to get up tomorrow morning, okay?â
It is fine for you to laze around at home.
But itâs a shame to waste precious time on a trip.
âAnd Iâm getting sleepy too.â
âWell, letâs have another round!ăLetâs play one more game!â
Ayumi fussed with the mahjong tiles in her hand.
For the moment, Yuzuru was winning the game. However, since there was no money at stake this time, there was not much significance in that winnings.
âThatâs what you were saying earlier as wellâŠâ
While sighing, Yuzuru, who has a soft spot for his sister, picked up a tile and said, âIâll go along with you for just one more gameâŠâ
At the same time, Yuzuruâs cell phone rang.
âAh⊠Sorry, Ayumi.â
When Yuzuru looked at the screen of his cell phone and said that, Ayumiâs mouth curved into a little pout.
âMu⊠Well, Fine. I donât want to disturb you. Good night!â
âYeah, good night.â
Ayumi finally left the room, apparently thinking that the caller was Arisa.
After confirming that Ayumi had left the room, Yuzuru answered the phone.
[âĐĐ»Đ»ĐŸ!â] ( TN: Hello in Russian)
âJapanese, please.â
[âYouâre in a bad mood, Yuzurun.â]
The person on the other end of the phone was not ArisaâŠ
But his childhood friend Ayaka Tachibana.
[âDid I wake you by any chance?â]
âI was just about to go to sleep. Iâm rather grateful to you for getting my sister out of my room, so thanks. What about youâŠ?â
[âI just had dinner.â]
The time difference between Yuzuru and Ayaka was exactly eight hours.
âI saw the pictures. What can I say, it looks⊠cool.â
Yuzuru said, describing his impression of Lake Baikal that Ayaka had sent him.
How could she go to Russia at this time of the year, Yuzuru wondered inwardly.
[âWell, thatâs that!ăItâs minus five degrees right now!â]
âThatâs enviable. Itâs twenty-eight degrees here, and itâs just too hot.â
[âIf youâre jealous, how about coming with me next year?â]
âNahâŠÂ The pictures are good enough, yeah. Itâs kept me cool.â
Although he would have liked to go there in the summer, he couldnât imagine wanting to go to Russia when it was still cold.
Spring break must be in a tropical country.
[âThatâs good to hear. Although I felt rather chilly when I saw Yuzurunâs picture.â]
The tropical photo that I sent to her to warm her up a bit seemed to have frozen Ayaka in reverse.
âWhy donât you come to a tropical country next year ?â
[âHaha!ăBut Russia is pretty fun, right?ăâŠIâm sure it would have been more fun in the summer, though.â]
Yuzuru and Ayaka then talked for a bit before saying goodnight.
âNow then⊠I should call Arisa before I go to bed.â
Yuzuru sent a text to Arisa, [Can I call you now?].
It was read immediately.
ââŠthat was fast.â
She didnât just grab her cell phone and wait for me all day, did she?
Yuzuru made a phone call to Arisa, thinking so.
âHello?â
[âYes, hello!â]
He could hear Arisaâs happy voice.
Yuzuru had a vision of her wagging her tail in front of her phone.
âHowâs it going over there?â
[âI just took a bath. What about you, Yuzuru-san?â]
âI was just about to go to bed⊠So I thought Iâd listen to your voice.â
[âI see⊠Thatâs right, considering the time difference it should be about that time.â]
When you live in Japan, you donât really think about the time difference.
In that sense, it was a little interesting to receive a phone call from a traveler.
[âIâve seen your photos. It looks warm. I feel rather enviousâŠâ]
In March, Japan is getting a little warmer⊠But it is still cold.
Compared to that, it was warm here.
But if anything, Arisaâs âenvyâ sounded more like a comment on the overseas trip itself than on the temperature.
When she was a child, she seemed to have traveled abroad quite often, but after coming to the Amagi family, she had never traveled⊠Yuzuru had learned this from Arisa.
âWell, next time when there is a chance, letâs go together. To the South Island.â
[âEh, will that be okay?â]
âNo, well⊠It might be difficult for a high school student though.â
If he asks his parents, he could bring Arisa along with him next yearâŠ
However, Yuzuru canât push it if his parents implicitly tell him that they want to take a trip with just the family.
âIn any case, weâre going somewhere for our honeymoon, arenât we?â
[âHo-honeymoon⊠I-itâs a bit⊠too soonâŠâ]
Arisa said in a high-pitched voice.
Well, indeed, the honeymoon is still a long way off.
Although it is a future that will surely come.
âWell, thatâs true. Iâd rather go to the beach in the summer before that.â
[âThe beach sounds great. I want to go with Yuzuru-san. ⊠A pool trip like last year would be fine as well.â]
Come to think of it, he and Arisa had gone to the pool last year.
Yuzuru remembered.
At the time, even though she was close to him⊠it was not as close as she is now.
âŠMaybe now they can have a little more âfunâ.
[âU-um Yuzuru-sanâŠâ]
âWhatâs wrong?â
[âWell, Iâm âŠnot a very good swimmer.â]
âAh âŠyou mentioned that before, didnât you?â
I canât swim twenty-five meters.
Yuzuru remembered that Arisa had said something like that to him.
[âYes. I mean, itâs quite all right to play in the pool or something⊠But, the lessonsâŠâ]
âI can teach you if you want.â
Yuzuru replied, knowing what Arisa was trying to say.
[âAre you sure?â]
âYeah, I donât mind.â
To begin with, letâs teach Arisa how to swimâŠ
And thatâs what went through his mind last summer.
So, there were no problems for Yuzuru.
Of courseâŠ
(W-well⊠touching her body in order to teach her how to swim is inevitableâŠ)
He had thought of no such evil thing at all, not even a little.
[âT-thank you very much⊠U, umâŠâ]
ââŠwhatâs up?â
[âPlease be gentle with me.â]
That was a very seductive way of putting it.
Yuzuru felt his body become a little hot.
Then there was a slight silence.
ââŠwell, before that, though, the cherry blossom viewing is there, right?â