The next morning, the windows were covered in dew and mist, and a cold draft blew in through a crack in the window, jolting Shiratori Seiya awake from an erotic dream . He shivered, instinctively reaching for his blanket, but found his hand grasping at empty air.
His brow furrowed, and a bad premonition welled up inside him. As if remembering something, he shot up from the bed and looked beside him.
Contrary to the beautiful scene he had anticipated, the beautiful girl who had been nestled in his arms in his dream was gone. He was the only one in the room, and the blanket was neatly folded at the head of the bed, undisturbed. The upper half of his clothes lay casually discarded on the floor; his gaze shifted downwards, and he saw that his lower half was completely intact.
It was just a bit cold.
He stared blankly at his thighs, subconsciously recalling last night's dream. He had had a wet dream—it had been a long time since that had happened. As an adult man who hadn't fully left adolescence, and who frequently interacted with beautiful girls, such an occurrence was perfectly normal.
Therefore, to satisfy his needs, he would occasionally take matters into his own hands. But having a dream like last night's was a first for him this year.
He couldn't quite remember the person in the dream. He vaguely recalled that the girl he was intertwined with seemed to be Saori, but on closer thought, it didn't seem quite right. He carefully replayed the details of last night's dream. Shiratori Seiya subconsciously clenched his hand, feeling that the size was wrong.
That heavy, delicate sensation... could it have been Shione?
Thinking of Shione, Shiratori Seiya subconsciously swallowed, but felt a knife-like pain in his throat. He had no time to worry about it now. Barefoot, he walked around the house, inside and out, but found no trace of Hōjō Shione. His gaze finally rested on the entrance, and seeing that her shoes were not there, he couldn't help but feel relieved.
A wet dream was better than it actually happening. He immediately felt a sense of ease, but then he recalled last night's situation; it seemed that Hōjō Shione had left after he got into bed.
Could it be that he was truly too tired these past two days?
Shiratori Seiya inexplicably felt something was off. He walked to the table and looked at the two boxes of calming incense Hōjō Shione had brought last night. Last night's incense had all burned away, leaving nothing but residual ash on the tabletop. After a moment of thought, he reached out and opened the two boxes.
Click.
First, he counted the quantity. Finding no issues, he then took one stick from each box, put them together, and lit them. Wreaths of smoke rose, and the elegant sandalwood diluted the strange odor on his pants. Watching the incense burn for five or six minutes, Shiratori Seiya didn't feel any abnormalities; it seemed to have no other effect besides calming.
However, after inhaling a whiff of the calming incense smoke, he immediately felt an extreme pain in his throat again, as if his vocal cords had been scraped by a blade. Now that he had calmed down, he also felt a bit dizzy and could basically confirm that he had a cold.
Nonetheless, even knowing he had a cold, his heart felt completely relaxed at this moment. It seemed he truly was too tired. Dreaming of Saori last night was probably because he had been intimate with her during the day, which also made sense.
Thinking this, he slipped into the bathroom for a hot shower. The hot water washed away the chill from his body, but after coming out, he was still stung by the coldness in the room, shivering as he quickly changed into a new set of clothes.
...
Back in his room, he picked up his phone and found that Hōjō Suzune had actually called him last night around ten o'clock.
"Hmm?"
Shiratori Seiya couldn't help but feel puzzled.
He thought about it for a while but couldn't figure out why she would call him at that hour. Moreover, hadn't she recently said that her family was quite strict with her, and she could only secretly contact him by using a different phone?
Hōjō Suzune usually sent him messages, but not many, usually just sharing her life. Shiratori Seiya would reply when he saw them, and he knew she seemed to be preparing for an art exam recently.
...
After some thought, he still sent her a text message, asking what she had wanted last night. However, as soon as the message was read, Suzune called him two seconds later. The call connected, and there was silence on the other end.
Shiratori Seiya found it strange; usually, if he called her, he would hear her energetic voice the moment she picked up. He glanced at his phone to make sure the call hadn't been disconnected and said, "Hello?"
"Ah, Seiya..."
The girl's slightly hesitant voice reached his ears. Shiratori Seiya asked, confused, "It's me. Suzune, what's wrong? Do you have a cold too?"
"I don't."
Suzune's voice seemed a bit nervous. She cleared her throat and said, "Isn't the weather changing recently? Kyoto's temperature has dropped a lot. Seiya, you know that, right? I'm just a bit cold..."
Then her concerned voice followed, "Listening to Seiya's voice, do you have a cold too? You should also wear more layers, even at home, you can't let your guard down..."
Hearing this, Shiratori Seiya subconsciously thought of Suzune's face; she always seemed clumsy, yet very cute, and he couldn't help but chuckle, "I can't exactly wear a padded jacket at home, can I? That would be too exaggerated. And compared to me, you're naturally more fragile..."
After a couple of casual admonishments, Shiratori Seiya continued, "By the way, I saw that Suzune, you called me last night. I was too tired recently and fell asleep at the time. Was there something you needed?"
"No."
Hōjō Suzune lowered her gaze, feeling a bit guilty, and stared at the tip of her shoe, hesitating. "It's just... I'm preparing for the art exam recently, trying to get into Tōgei through it. But it starts in February next year, and I was thinking, if I prepare now, wouldn't it be better to enroll in a training class..."
Shiratori Seiya was a bit surprised, mentally chewing on the meaning of her words, and asked, "Suzune, do you mean you want to come to Tokyo for training?"
"Mm."
"Have you told your sister about this?"
"No..."
Listening to the girl's guilty tone on the phone, Shiratori Seiya continued to ask, "So have uncle and aunt agreed?"
"Haven't told them yet..."
"So, I'm the first one Suzune, you've informed?"
"Mm..."
Hearing this, Shiratori Seiya was momentarily torn between laughter and tears, and he smiled helplessly, "Regardless, you should at least discuss it with your sister. Otherwise, what will you do when you come to Tokyo? Staying at my place is definitely not an option; your sister lives right next door to me."
"Eh?!"
Suddenly, Hōjō Suzune's surprised voice came through the phone, completely different from her previous guilty, hushed state. She asked in astonishment, "She lives right next to you? You're neighbors?!"
"..."
After reassuring Hōjō Suzune and finally hanging up the phone, Shiratori Seiya changed his clothes, feeling that he still needed to talk to Shione about it. But when he went to her door and rang the doorbell several times, there was no response.
After thinking for a moment, he sent her a message: "You're not home?"
The message was read a few tens of seconds later, and then she replied: "Ah, sorry Seiya, I forgot to tell you. I received a notification from Miss Fukada last night that I needed to go back to the company today, and I'm already on my way."
"What's it about?"
"It's contract-related again... What's wrong? Is there something you need?"
Shiratori Seiya hesitated for a moment, then replied: "Yes, Suzune called me just now. It seems to be about her art exam; she said... she wants to come to Tokyo. Do you know about this?"
"Hehe, she'd rather tell you than talk to me. Sure enough, Suzune still likes you a lot..."
Even across the screen, Shiratori Seiya could sense the jealousy. However, he was somewhat used to this situation. When he was with Shione, she had a lot of opinions about Suzune. But what he hadn't expected was that even after so long apart, Shione still seemed to hold a grudge.
He was about to say something to ease the tension between the two sisters when another message popped up in the chat box:
"Don't worry, Seiya, I'll handle it."