"Sora, you guys are finally back."
On the long seawall, Yanami Anna happily waved her hand, the ahoge on her head swaying cheerfully in the sea breeze.
But in the next second, 'Inmate Eight' morphed into a dejected form, clutching her stomach with her right hand, head hanging low:
"I'm so hungry, I feel like I'm going to pass out..."
'Inmate Eight' was usually full of vitality, but once she got hungry, she would enter a state of despair.
"We'll go eat right away." Izumi Sora walked up to Yanami. "If we ride forward along the coastal road, I remember there's an all-you-can-eat BBQ place. We'll go have BBQ for lunch."
"What, BBQ?"
Yanami Anna's spirits instantly lifted, her pretty face full of anticipation:
"I want to eat!"
Gokou Ruri looked up, holding the straw hat on her head with her right hand. Her beautiful black hair fluttered gently in the sea breeze, like a dynamic ink-wash painting of plum blossoms, exceptionally beautiful:
"Sora, what do we do with the fish we caught?"
"Don't worry, we can leave them at the kiosk first." Izumi Sora said casually. "The kiosk has a large freezer and provides free storage. We'll come back and get the fish after we finish eating."
"You've worked hard, Sora-kun. Have a drink of water first to replenish your fluids."
Angel-sama took out a bottle of beverage and handed it over with a gentle gaze.
"Thank you, Mahiru." Izumi Sora softly thanked her. "I am indeed a bit thirsty."
"Mahiru, I want a drink too." Yamada Elf put her hands on her hips. "My throat is smoking."
"Here."
Shiina Mahiru handed over a bottle of milk:
"I was just about to give it to you."
"..."
After downing half the bottle of beverage in one go, Izumi Sora screwed the cap back on, and then, carrying their spoils, headed to the kiosk with the girls.
After storing the caught sea fish at the kiosk, Izumi Sora and the girls got on their bicycles and continued along the coastal road. Before long, the group arrived at a shopping street.
Although this shopping street wasn't large, it had everything one could need.
Izumi Sora had been here before, so he knew the way and led the girls directly to the entrance of the all-you-can-eat BBQ restaurant.
"Welcome."
A waiter greeted them. After asking about the number of people dining, he led them to a corner table.
Izumi Sora sat down first. Yanami originally wanted to sit next to him, but in the next second, Elf beat her to it.
(Eh, someone stole my spot?)
Watching Elf sit closely beside Izumi Sora in an intimate posture with zero sense of distance, Yanami's gaze became subtle.
(Speaking of which, I didn't notice before, but aren't Elf and Sora a bit too close?)
(She completely doesn't know how to keep her distance... As I thought, Elf is also a thieving cat!)
"My legs are so sore, I have absolutely no energy left." Yamada Elf laid her head on the table, looking over while acting spoiled. "Sora, go get some BBQ meat for me."
Because it was an all-you-can-eat place, they were understaffed, so customers had to get whatever they wanted themselves.
Hearing this, Izumi Sora looked over: "What do you want to eat?"
"Beef tongue."
"Beef tongue is limited, one portion per person."
"One portion is fine, I also want sweet shrimp, grilled pineapple, oysters..."
"Don't take too much, be careful you can't finish it."
"If I can't finish it, Sora will help me eat it~"
"..."
Listening to their conversation, the subtle feeling in Yanami's heart grew even stronger.
(Actually asking a boy to help her eat her food, why is Elf so practiced at this!)
Aside from Elf refusing to move from the table, the other girls didn't ask Izumi Sora for help.
After bringing the meat over, it was time for grilling.
While grilling, a news broadcast on the wall-mounted TV suddenly caught Izumi Sora's attention.
"Japan's first female prime minister in history has been officially elected... What? Dekomori Sanae?"
Izumi Sora looked at the TV in shock. After seeing the name clearly, he realized he had misread it.
It wasn't Dekomori Sanae, but Takaichi Sanae.
"I thought I was going to encounter the Tyrant's Eye of the Wicked Lord, looks like I was overthinking."
Izumi Sora sat back down.
"Sora-kun, what's wrong?"
Angel-sama looked over curiously.
"Just a subtle feeling." Izumi Sora said softly. "Suddenly felt like I was witnessing history."
"After all, she's the first female prime minister in history." Yanami Anna looked up, complaining while grilling meat. "I'm just a bit worried, will she be another 'one-year shelf life' prime minister?"
In the past five years, Japan had changed prime ministers four times, one per year, faster than many people change girlfriends.
Kuroneko crossed her arms over her chest: "They say politicians are the most disgusting people in the world. The new prime minister might just be..."
Izumi Sora turned his head and looked over:
"Ruri, open your mouth."
"Eh?"
Kuroneko was slightly startled, but obediently opened her mouth.
"Here."
Izumi Sora quickly stuffed a piece of grilled meat into Kuroneko's mouth:
"If you keep talking, you're going to get banned."
Kuroneko: "..."
By the time Yanami put down her chopsticks in satisfaction, it was almost 1:00 PM.
Izumi Sora led the girls out of the restaurant. After a brief discussion, they all decided to go back to the kiosk to grab their catch and then head home.
Unless someone is a seasoned angler, it's hard to sit by the sea for a whole day. The girls were no exception; once the initial novelty wore off, they had no desire to continue fishing in the afternoon.
"Then let's go back and get the catch first... Let's go."
The group got on their bicycles and started their return journey.
However, not long after they set off, raindrops suddenly fell from the gloomy sky.
They originally thought it was a light drizzle and wanted to push through to the kiosk, but the rain quickly intensified into a torrential downpour with fierce winds.
"No, we can't keep riding."
Looking at the increasingly heavy downpour, Izumi Sora scanned their surroundings. Suddenly seeing a flashing neon sign not far ahead, he made a prompt decision:
"Let's go over there and take shelter for a while."
The group rode their bicycles quickly across the street to the entrance of the hotel. But only when they got close did they realize the hotel was seemingly not an ordinary one.
"I-It's actually... a love hotel?"
Yanami Anna looked up. After clearly reading the text on the signboard, the advice from her strategist friend last night quickly surfaced in her mind.
(When out on a date, if it happens to rain, you can take the opportunity to go to a hotel... Did everything really come true?)
(But reverse-pushing is definitely out of the question, right?)
(Everyone is here, there's absolutely no way to do that kind of thing!)
The wind was fierce, the rain torrential.
Even standing at the entrance of the love hotel, they were still getting swept by the wind and rain.
Izumi Sora wiped the rainwater from his face, looked at the girls beside him, and asked for their opinion:
"We can't stay at the entrance... Do you want to go inside and take a look?"
Hearing Izumi Sora's question, the girls blushed and hesitated.
Even the innocent Elf knew that a place like a love hotel wasn't something you could just wander into.
They were just high school students... This kind of hotel completely wasn't a place students should visit, right?
"Achoo—"
Kuroneko hugged her chest with both hands, her pale face sneezing.
Angel-sama turned her head, looking at the pale-faced Kuroneko. After hesitating for two seconds, her gaze quickly became firm:
"Let's go in. Everyone's clothes are soaked. If we don't take a shower and change clothes as soon as possible, we'll highly likely catch a cold."
The experience of taking a cold shower and then immediately coming down with a severe cold still left Mahiru with lingering fear. She completely didn't want to experience it again.
As for the love hotel... going inside was just to shower and change clothes. As long as they had a clear conscience, it would be fine, right?
"Let's go in, let's go in." Yamada Elf's voice was crisp as she curiously peered inside. "I still don't know what a hotel like this looks like inside."
Yanami Anna's pretty face flushed slightly, saying in a small voice:
"Elf shouldn't be curious about this kind of place."
Yamada Elf turned to look at her: "Is Yanami not curious?"
"I'm not curious."
"Liars stay single for life."
Yanami: "..."
A curse to be single, how mean!
"Wet clothes do make it easy to catch a cold." Izumi Sora exhaled softly and took the lead into the hotel. "Let's go inside and take a look."
Entering the love hotel, they were greeted by a dimly lit lobby.
"Eh, it seems there's no receptionist."
Elf put her hands on her hips, looking left and right curiously.
Izumi Sora casually explained:
"People who come to love hotels value their privacy very much, so it seems to all be self-service."
Stare—
As soon as he finished speaking, the girls all turned their heads and looked at Izumi Sora together.
"Why does Sora know this super clearly?"
"You couldn't have been here before, right?"
"Pervert Sora, confess honestly."
"..."
"Don't slander my innocence." Izumi Sora was expressionless, his conscience clear. "This kind of common sense can be seen everywhere on the internet, alright."
Shiina Mahiru's pretty face flushed slightly:
"Sora-kun, since you're so familiar with it, we'll leave choosing the room to you."
"I'm not familiar with it." Izumi Sora naturally had to protect his innocence. "I've just seen it online."
"Idiot Sora, hurry up and book a room." Yamada Elf hugged her arms. "I feel like it's getting colder and colder."
Izumi Sora looked over: "Elf can choose too."
"No." Yamada Elf spoke with absolute justification. "At a time like this, the boy is definitely the one who should book the room."
"But there are clearly more of you..."
Complaining, Izumi Sora walked up to the LCD screen.
The screen displayed basic information about each room, such as price, theme, and whether it was occupied.
Izumi Sora glanced over it and found there were no normal rooms. They were all kink themes, such as train car, classroom, prison, pirate ship, and so on.
But right now, most of the rooms were already occupied. Only the last two rooms were shown as available for booking.
"There are only two rooms left..." Izumi Sora turned to look at the girls behind him. "One is a Nurse's Clinic, the other is an Investigator's Hell. Which one do you choose?"
Yamada Elf's voice was curious: "I know what a Nurse's Clinic is, but what does Investigator's Hell mean?"
Izumi Sora: "..."
"Yanami, you explain it to Elf."
Izumi Sora tossed the question to 'Inmate Eight'.
"Eh?"
Yanami Anna's face turned red, and she quickly averted her pretty face:
"I-I completely don't know what Investigator's Hell means!"
If you don't know, why are you blushing!
Izumi Sora then looked at Kuroneko: "Ruri, I'll leave it to you."
Kuroneko crossed her arms over her chest, the tips of her ears slightly pink, her tone full of chunibyo: "Foolish mortal, don't even think about making me answer about corrupted forbidden knowledge."
Angel-sama softly suggested:
"Let's book both rooms. We'll stay in the clinic, and Sora-kun can go to the investigator room."
An Investigator's Hell for one person... that really would be hell.
Izumi Sora nodded. He didn't expect to share a room with the girls, but just as he was about to insert the bills, Elf's soft cry suddenly rang in his ear:
"That [Investigator's Hell] room went dark."
"It must have been booked online by someone."
Izumi Sora turned to look, no longer hesitating, and quickly booked the last [Nurse's Clinic].
"The last room is booked."
Izumi Sora exhaled softly, looking at the girls:
"You guys go take a shower, I'll wait for you downstairs."
"Eh?"
"I have a strong body, I won't catch a cold."
"No." Yamada Elf was the first to refuse. "Leaving Sora down here alone is definitely too mean. If we're going up, we're all going up."
It had to be said, although Elf usually acted high and mighty, when something happened, she wouldn't hesitate to put Izumi Sora first.
Shiina Mahiru's pretty face was flushed as she said softly:
"Sora-kun, come up with us."
"That's right." Yanami Anna's pretty face also flushed. "With everyone together, Sora definitely won't dare to bully anyone."
Kuroneko: "..."
Everyone else voted in favor; her single objection would be meaningless.
Of course, she didn't plan to object either.
It's just staying in a love hotel together. The rainy night I let Sora stay over, only to be blocked in the bathroom by my sister... that was actually even more embarrassing, right?
Seeing that the girls unanimously wanted him to go up, Izumi Sora naturally agreed:
"Then let's go up together."
"..."
Walking up the narrow staircase to the second floor, they noticed thick carpets on the floor, making completely no sound when stepped on.
Passing through the hallway and arriving at the designated room door, Izumi Sora took out the keycard, swiped it, and successfully opened the door.
"The entryway even has a partition?"
Izumi Sora was slightly surprised.
After pushing the door open, inside was a small entryway, followed by another door.
To ensure soundproofing, they truly went to extreme lengths.
"Take off your shoes, take off your shoes."
The girls took off their shoes one after another and entered the actual room.
"It feels exactly like a real clinic."
Yamada Elf put her hands on her hips, curiously looking left and right.
Examination table, filing cabinets, a nurse's uniform hanging on the wall... it was a complete 1:1 replica.
"There are still some differences." Yanami Anna was also looking around curiously. "A real clinic wouldn't have vending machines and a bookshelf."
There were two vending machines in the room. One sold alcoholic drinks, beverages, and small snacks. The other sold unspeakable items. Yanami Anna looked curiously for a couple of seconds, then hurriedly blushed and averted her gaze.
Meanwhile.
Angel-sama began to direct the overall situation.
"There's a dryer in the corner. Everyone, take off your wet clothes first, be careful not to dirty the floor... Sora-kun, you go to the bathroom first. Boys shower quickly, hurry up and finish so you can come out."
Shiina Mahiru handed over a white bathrobe while speaking, arranging everything for Izumi Sora clearly.
"Received."
Izumi Sora took the bathrobe and walked into the bathroom.
Angel-sama continued from outside:
"I checked just now, the bathroom is quite large... Wait until Sora-kun changes clothes and comes out, then we'll go in and shower together. We need to take a hot shower as soon as possible to avoid catching a cold."