Volume 4 - CH 4

“Why don’t you go back to your room?　..It’s already late.”

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 Yuzuru’s room all the time even though she had her own room.

I’m bored, but I don’t want to waste time playing games on my phone when I’m on vacation. 

That was Ayumi’s 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 so…

“Yeah.”

“It’s not ‘yeah’… I don’t know if you’ll be able to get up tomorrow morning, okay?”

It is fine for you to laze around at home.

But it’s a shame to waste precious time on a trip.

“And I’m getting sleepy too.”

“Well, let’s have another round!　Let’s play one more game!”

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.

“That’s what you were saying earlier as well…”

While sighing, Yuzuru, who has a soft spot for his sister, picked up a tile and said, “I’ll go along with you for just one more game…”

At the same time, Yuzuru’s cell phone rang.

“Ah… Sorry, Ayumi.”

When Yuzuru looked at the screen of his cell phone and said that, Ayumi’s mouth curved into a little pout.

“Mu… Well, Fine. I don’t want to disturb you. Good night!”

“Yeah, good night.”

Ayumi finally left the room, apparently thinking that the caller was Arisa.

After confirming that Ayumi had left the room, Yuzuru answered the phone.

[“Алло!”] (TN: Hello in Russian)

“Japanese, please.”

[“You’re in a bad mood, Yuzurun.”]

The person on the other end of the phone was not Arisa…

But his childhood friend Ayaka Tachibana.

[“Did I wake you by any chance?”]

“I was just about to go to sleep. I’m rather grateful to you for getting my sister out of my room, so thanks. What about you…?”

[“I just had dinner.”]

The time difference between Yuzuru and Ayaka was exactly eight hours.

“I saw the pictures. What can I say, it looks… cool.”

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.

[“Well, that’s that!　It’s minus five degrees right now!”]

“That’s enviable. It’s twenty-eight degrees here, and it’s just too hot.”

[“If you’re jealous, how about coming with me next year?”]

“Nah…  The pictures are good enough, yeah. It’s kept me cool.”

Although he would have liked to go there in the summer, he couldn’t imagine wanting to go to Russia when it was still cold.

Spring break must be in a tropical country.

[“That’s good to hear. Although I felt rather chilly when I saw Yuzurun’s picture.”]

The tropical photo that I sent to her to warm her up a bit seemed to have frozen Ayaka in reverse.

“Why don’t you come to a tropical country next year ?”

[“Haha!　But Russia is pretty fun, right?　…I’m sure it would have been more fun in the summer, though.”]

Yuzuru and Ayaka then talked for a bit before saying goodnight.

“Now then… I should call Arisa before I go to bed.”

Yuzuru sent a text to Arisa, [Can I call you now?].

It was read immediately.

“…that was fast.”

She didn’t just grab her cell phone and wait for me all day, did she?

Yuzuru made a phone call to Arisa, thinking so.

“Hello?”

[“Yes, hello!”]

He could hear Arisa’s happy voice.

Yuzuru had a vision of her wagging her tail in front of her phone.

“How’s it going over there?”

[“I just took a bath. What about you, Yuzuru-san?”]

“I was just about to go to bed… So I thought I’d listen to your voice.”

[“I see… That’s right, considering the time difference it should be about that time.”]

When you live in Japan, you don’t really think about the time difference.

In that sense, it was a little interesting to receive a phone call from a traveler.

[“I’ve seen your photos. It looks warm. I feel rather envious…”]

In March, Japan is getting a little warmer… But it is still cold.

Compared to that, it was warm here.

But if anything, Arisa’s “envy” 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. 

“Well, next time when there is a chance, let’s go together. To the South Island.”

[“Eh, will that be okay?”]

“No, well… It might be difficult for a high school student though.”

If he asks his parents, he could bring Arisa along with him next year…

However, Yuzuru can’t push it if his parents implicitly tell him that they want to take a trip with just the family.

“In any case, we’re going somewhere for our honeymoon, aren’t we?”

[“Ho-honeymoon… I-it’s a bit… too soon…”]

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.

“Well, that’s true. I’d rather go to the beach in the summer before that.”

[“The beach sounds great. I want to go with Yuzuru-san. … A pool trip like last year would be fine as well.”]

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.

…Maybe now they can have a little more “fun”.　

[“U-um Yuzuru-san…”]

“What’s wrong?”

[“Well, I’m …not a very good swimmer.”]

“Ah …you mentioned that before, didn’t you?”

I can’t swim twenty-five meters.

Yuzuru remembered that Arisa had said something like that to him.

[“Yes. I mean, it’s quite all right to play in the pool or something… But, the lessons…”]

“I can teach you if you want.”

Yuzuru replied, knowing what Arisa was trying to say.

[“Are you sure?”]

“Yeah, I don’t mind.”

To begin with, let’s teach Arisa how to swim…

And that’s what went through his mind last summer.

So, there were no problems for Yuzuru.

Of course…

(W-well… touching her body in order to teach her how to swim is inevitable…)

He had thought of no such evil thing at all, not even a little.

[“T-thank you very much… U, um…”]

“…what’s up?”

[“Please be gentle with me.”]

That was a very seductive way of putting it.

Yuzuru felt his body become a little hot.

Then there was a slight silence.

“…well, before that, though, the cherry blossom viewing is there, right?”

[“Th-that’s right.”]

The two of them hung up the phone deceptively.