The bus rumbled to a halt, gravel crunching beneath the wheels as it came to a soft stop.
I wiped a bead of sweat from my forehead, half from the ride, half from surviving two full hours of Nao shouting trivia facts and Arisa "accidentally" falling asleep on my shoulder four separate times.
Reina hadn't said a word the whole trip, but I swear she was counting each moment Arisa touched me like she was tallying sins, like she was Light from Death Note.
Yuki? She just stared out the window like she was silently plotting my execution.
The doors hissed open, and there it was.
Kazumi Numaguchi Village.
An old-style rural retreat known for its nature trails, temples, and most importantly, absolutely no cell service.
Wooden homes with curved tiled roofs sat nestled among hills of tall cedar trees. The breeze carried the faint scent of incense and miso, and cicadas droned in the background like they were trying to warn me.
Welcome to the middle of nowhere.
We stepped off the bus, and the girls immediately went full character.
"OH MY GOD! It's like a real live drama set!" Arisa practically sang, twirling in place as she adjusted her designer shades. "I hope they've got proper beds... like, with goose feather duvets. I refuse to sleep on the floor."
"You're in a cultural heritage site, not a spa resort," Reina said flatly, though even she looked a little intrigued by the vibe, her eyes drifting over the thatched rooftops.
Nao was practically bouncing. "This place is so cool! I'm gonna go pick flowers, take like 12 photos, and maybe find a frog! Wanna name one Froppy-kun!"
Yuki finally stepped off the bus, arms folded. She looked around with that ever-present glare of low-key judgment.
"These rooms better be like ours."
"Yeah, that's not happening," Reina whispered.
Meanwhile, I was just happy to be alive.
"I mean, hey. Not bad," I said, rolling my shoulder. "Could've been worse. It could've been a cold mountain cave. At least this has roofs."
As we followed the teacher toward the main inn building, I spotted her holding a clipboard and a stack of room keys.
"Ah, kannazuki-kun," she said, pulling out a small envelope. "There was a special accommodation requested for you. It came with this letter from... Wilhelm-san, I believe?"
I took it, eyebrow already twitching.
I opened the envelope.
"Dear Souta Sir,
Given your continued service to the young mistresses, and in my current absence as I attend to Miss Saki's five-star itinerary, I have requested that you be quartered as near to the sisters as possible. Please tend to their needs, maintain order, and discourage Miss Nao from licking frogs. And Yuki from using the cooker she's never seen or used before.
Yours sincerely,
Wilhelm."
The girls leaned over my shoulder.
"…Wait," I said slowly. "Does that mean…"
The teacher smiled kindly. "Yes, Kannazuki-kun, you'll be staying in Room 3B with the sisters. As their assigned aide, it's been cleared."
I blinked.
Yuki blinked.
Arisa blinked, then grinned like she'd just won the lottery.
"There's only one futon cabinet…" Reina whispered ominously.
Nao clapped. "Ooh! Like one big sleepover!"
I was still frozen.
"...You mean to tell me I'm bunking with all four of you in one room?"
The teacher nodded.
Traditional-style room. One big open space. Five futons.
My soul briefly left my body.
We walked into Room 3B, and yep, it was exactly what I feared.
One big tatami room. No dividers. No bunk beds. No escape.
Five futons.
Four girls.
One idiot (me).
Arisa stepped in, spun dramatically, then stopped when she noticed the bedding. "This feels more illegal than anything I've ever done."
Nao was already picking her futon spot. "I always like having a futon neighbor?"
Yuki crossed her arms. "This is your fault."
I looked up at the ceiling.
"...I'm sleeping in the hallway."
Reina tilted her head. "That's not sanitary."
"This whole setup's not sanitary!"
But it was too late. My fate had been sealed.
Thanks, Wilhelm.
Wherever you are, I hope that spa towel snaps you in the ass.
We eventually got everything set up in the room.
Well, I did, anyway.
The others? No. For the past ten minutes, three out of the four girls were too busy arguing... about who had to sleep next to me.
Let me say that again.
Who had to.
Yeah. I know what my male readers are thinking right now.
"Yo Souta, you lucky bastard, sleeping next to four hot girls? Living the dream, bro!"
First of all: shut up.
Second of all: NO I'M NOT.
Because they weren't fighting to sleep next to me.
They were fighting to avoid it like I was a biohazard with abs.
And as a man with already cripplingly low self-esteem, this was like watching my ego get run over by a dump truck, reversed on, then hit with the handbrake drift.
"Listen!! Arisa should sleep next to him!" Nao declared, pointing her finger like she was in a courtroom drama. "You're the flirty one! You're always flashing him your boobs and stuff!"
"WHAT!?" Arisa turned redder than her hair. "Excuse me?! I do not flash, those are tasteful seduction tactics, thank you very much!"
Nao crossed her arms, puffing her cheeks. "Well, I'm not doing it! I sleep like a gremlin! What if I roll over and end up touching him!?"
Arisa smirked. "That's exactly why you should be next to him, he sees you like a little sister. Nothing would happen. Safe. Harmless. Basically a fluffy body pillow."
Nao's face twitched.
"…I don't want that to be the case," she muttered under her breath.
Arisa leaned forward. "Huh? What was that?"
"N-NOTHING!"
Nao immediately spun around. "I REFUSE. One of YOU GUYS pick! Reina! Yuki! One of you!!"
She stormed off toward the hallway like a toddler who lost their turn at Mario Kart.
Meanwhile, I?
I was sitting in the corner with my arms wrapped around my knees like a background NPC in a visual novel. You know the one, the pixelated guy no one clicks on.
I cleared my throat. "Umm... Guys? Just a reminder, I'm literally right here. Like, I'm in the room. Breathing oxygen and everything."
Yuki's cold stare hit me like a ninja star.
"It doesn't matter where we go. You always bring chaos."
"I-well-I mean, yeah, okay. Fair."
I scratched the back of my head in classic defeated anime protagonist fashion.
Eventually, the debate came to a close.
A very reluctant, slightly awkward peace treaty was formed.
And the lucky (or unlucky?) girl who ended up sleeping next to me was...
Reina.
Yeah. Reina.
The one girl who barely said anything this whole time, didn't pick a side, and probably just wanted to sleep without getting drawn into the Hunger Games: Futon Edition.
She didn't even blink. Just rolled out her futon next to mine like it was obvious.
Honestly, kind of refreshing.
Me? I stayed quiet. Still recovering from the emotional damage of being treated like a bomb no one wanted to defuse.
So yeah. Night one of the trip:
Futon set. Room shared. Dignity? Not so much.
Let's just hope I don't roll in my sleep.
Or worse, snore.
Thankfully, sleeping time wasn't here yet.
Instead, it was time for the mandatory "Let's learn about the village before we break it" tour, courtesy of the school.
I made my way down to the main lobby, still trying to shake off the last hour's worth of awkward futon placement drama. I swear I have PTSD from the phrase "you sleep next to him!"
The polished wood floors of the lobby squeaked as I stepped in, and there he was.
Shinji.
My eternally, now super jealous classmate and walking insecurity bomb.
He stood next to the water cooler like he was on the lookout for a jump scare. The moment he spotted me, his face twisted into that same dramatic anime rival glare he'd probably been practicing in the mirror.
"Ara, ara, ara," he said, crossing his arms, "if it isn't the maid of honor himself."
"Oh, it's you, you Kurumi Tokisaki wanna be," I said, already sipping the water he was obviously guarding.
He scoffed. "So, sleeping in the same room with four girls, huh?"
Here we go.
"It's not like that," I replied, "It's part of my job. Their butler made the call."
"Yeah, right. There butler, aka your wingman in disguise."
Before I could answer, he walked in.
A guy I'd never seen before.
Tall. Like, tall-tall. Sharp features, clean-cut hair, tidy uniform, except for the slightly oversized glasses perched on his nose, which made him look like he accidentally wandered out of a shoujo manga and into our lives. A perfect split between "intimidating senpai" and "socially awkward honour student."
He stood by the check-in desk for a moment, fidgeting with a guide pamphlet, clearly unsure if he was in the right place.
Then his eyes landed on me.
"U-uhm… excuse me?" he said, his voice barely above a whisper. "Are you… The one staying with the sisters?"
The words hung in the air for a moment.
Shinji's eyebrows practically shot into orbit.
"Wait, what, you know them?" I blinked. "Do you?"
The guy flushed pink like someone had hit a switch.
"N-no! I-I mean… I've just seen them around school. They seem… um… close to you." He scratched his cheek and looked away. "One of them… uh… stands out."
Before I could ask which one, the sound of heels clicking across the floor derailed everything.
Arisa, Reina, Yuki, and Nao entered the lobby like they were shooting a commercial for "Goddesses on Vacation."
The mystery guy's soul physically left his body.
He squeaked. Yes. Squeaked. Then ducked behind a tall plant, using a pamphlet to cover his face like it had magical invisibility powers.
"What was that about?" Arisa asked, raising an eyebrow as she glanced around.
"Not sure he's about to say something but now decided to Photosynthesis," I muttered, trying not to laugh.
The teacher clapped her hands together at the front doors.
"Okay, everyone! Stay in your assigned groups and follow me!"
The village itself looked straight out of a historical drama. Curved roof tiles, old-style wooden walls, narrow stone paths, paper lanterns still dangling from strings. We passed a few locals sweeping their porches, bowing politely as we walked by.
Nao instantly ran over to a giant Jizo statue.
"Look, Souta! It's like a chibi Buddha!" she shouted. "Can I ride on his head?!"
"Absolutely not," I replied, dragging her back.
Arisa posed under an archway.
"This lighting is divine," she said, snapping selfies like her life depended on it. "Souta~ take some of me! And only me!"
"No thanks, I already have trauma stored in 4K," I muttered, ducking her phone.
Yuki walked ahead of everyone, hands softly swaying, acting like she was in a shojo drama. I swear she was checking door sizes.
"These inns better be the same size as ours," she said under her breath.
What's up with her and the sizes of things...
But the real surprise came from Reina.
She'd been quiet for most of the walk until a wild fox darted across the path, fast, sleek, and way too close.
Reina jumped, then, without a word, clung to my sleeve.
"...Sorry," she muttered, trying to pull away quickly. "It just startled me. I didn't mean to"
"N-no, it's okay," I said, suddenly aware of how warm her hand was.
"Foxes are intense. Vicious. Very much untrustworthy creatures."
Arisa and Nao immediately pounced.
"Ooooh Reina~!" Arisa sang. "Holding his sleeve like a proper little housewife?"
Nao giggled. "I knew you were hiding something behind those calm eyes~!"
"I wasn't!" Reina flushed red, letting go of me and facing forward at double pace.
But the chaos wasn't done.
A few minutes later, we hit a steep slope. I offered to carry Reina's bag since she was still rattled.
She also asked if she could stay close to me, which, of course, I agreed.
But.
Then Yuki tripped.
Or did she?
She stumbled forward, lightly bumping into me. I barely caught her by the shoulders.
"Oh, uh, you okay?"
"Yeah," she said flatly. "That was clumsy of me."
But her eyes met mine for a fraction of a second too long.
Did she… do that on purpose?
I couldn't tell.
Arisa and Nao didn't say anything, but they both stared.
And suddenly, I was walking five feet behind everyone out of self-preservation.
As we approached a tea shop at the end of the path, I finally had a moment to breathe. The teacher was talking about local crafts and giving a spiel about the shrine on the hill, but my brain was focused elsewhere.
The girls were warming up.
Reina, Yuki, even Nao was acting less little sister-y than usual. Arisa, of course, was in full diva mode.
And somewhere, hiding behind a plant, was a guy who liked one of them.
This trip might kill me… but it was starting to get interesting.
Next stop: dinner.
And if I knew these girls, peace was no longer on the menu.