Chapter 145: Return Home
After leaving the family restaurant, we decided to accompany Hisui back to her house so she could get ready for the sleepover.
“You don’t have to wait around for me, you know. I’m going to shower too, so I’ll keep you waiting.”
“I can’t just let you walk home alone at night.”
There were other reasons I didn’t say out loud.
If Hisui and Souta ran into each other at her house, there was a chance her anger would flare up again. I figured if we were there too, we could act as a buffer if that happened.
When we arrived, Souta’s shoes weren’t in the entryway.
Seemed like he was still out. That was a relief—it looked like we’d avoid any unfortunate encounters.
“I’m going to hop in the shower, so hang tight for a bit, okay?”
Yuna and I waited in Hisui’s room.
I hadn’t been in here since we were in elementary school.
Her room had never been especially decorated, but now it was even more streamlined for function. If not for the school uniform hanging on the wall, you’d hardly guess it belonged to a girl.
“Sorry to keep you waiting.”
Hisui returned in about ten minutes.
Apparently, she’d rushed her shower for us.
“You told me not to dry my hair, so…”
“Yeah, leave it to me.”
I’d asked her not to dry it because using magic would be faster.
She sat down on the bed and unwrapped the towel from her head. Her damp, raven-black hair fell in soft waves around her shoulders.
She usually wore it in a ponytail, so seeing it down like this felt unusually mature. My heart skipped a beat.
I climbed onto the bed and, sitting behind her, raised my hands over her head and began chanting. I used Dry and then Repair. In seconds, her hair was dry and silky, and she looked genuinely surprised by the results.
“Magic can do stuff like this too…?”
“Heh, amazing, right?”
For some reason, Yuna answered proudly.
“It is amazing, but also kind of frustrating. When I think about the time I spend every day drying and caring for my hair…”
Hisui’s long hair was clearly well-maintained. She told us she usually spent around ten minutes a day drying it.
“I get it. It’s not fair, right?”
Yuna said that, despite constantly begging me to use magic on her.
“What am I even supposed to say to that…”
All I could do was smile wryly.
Hisui quickly packed her overnight things into a small tote bag, and we left her house together.
In the end, Souta never came home while we were there.
I was relieved we’d avoided a scene, but still—where the heck was he wandering around?
While we waited for Hisui, I messaged him with our current situation, telling him not to come home yet. But the message wasn’t even marked as read.
…Well, knowing him, his phone probably just died or something.
When we got back home, Mom greeted us at the door.
“Welcome back, you two. And good evening to you too, Hisui-chan.”
That usual warm welcome brought a strange sense of comfort.
Dad wasn’t home. He often had last-minute work, so that wasn’t unusual, but it was a bit odd that even Mom didn’t know where he’d gone.
We sat around in the living room for a while, drinking tea and chatting as four girls.
It had been years since Hisui visited and sat down to talk like this, so there was no shortage of things to talk about.
“Oh, that’s right, Alice. Here, I want you to take this. Make sure to drink it morning and night, okay?”
Partway through the conversation, Mom seemed to suddenly remember something and set down what looked like a soft plastic bottle of medicine on the table.
“What is this…?”
“It’s a prenatal supplement. The main ingredient is folic acid, but it also contains iron and calcium.”
According to Mom, folic acid plays a key role in cell formation, making it an essential nutrient for pregnant women who are growing a child in their womb. Apparently, the average Japanese diet tends to lack enough of it, so it’s better to take supplements like this.
Seriously, there’s so much I don’t know…
Having a baby really is a lot of work.
After that, I went back to my room with Hisui.
Mom brought out some futons from the guest room, and the two of us laid them out on the floor. We sat together on the bed, chatting for a while, until Yuna came to call me for a bath. I left Hisui in the room and stepped out.
On the way to the bathroom, I stopped by the toilet.
“…Ugh.”
The sound slipped out of me before I realized it.
The pad I’d put on after having sex was soaked, thick with Souta’s semen.
“…”
Without really thinking, I brought it close to my nose. The raw, musky smell of male clung to it, strong enough to make me gag. I used to smell that scent all the time—it should’ve been familiar. But now it just felt… fishy, overpowering.
“…What am I even doing…”
Snapping back to my senses, I rolled up the pad, wrapped it in toilet paper, and tossed it into the sanitary bin.
As I was wondering if I’d be able to enjoy my third bath of the day in peace, I sensed Yuna entering the changing room. I thought it was kind of bold of her with Hisui still here… but then again, Yuna and I usually bathed together. So I didn’t say anything.
She seemed to be rummaging around out there for a bit, and by the time she came into the bathroom, I’d already washed my hair and body and was soaking in the tub.
“Alice, seriously?”
The moment she opened the door, Yuna scolded me lightly.
“You threw your underwear in the washing machine, didn’t you? That wasn’t your usual stuff—you need to hand wash things like that properly.”
“Oh… I didn’t know.”
“I washed it for you today, but next time you do it yourself, okay?”
“Wait… you washed it…?”
But… that underwear was dirty from what I did with Souta…
“Wha—wh—whaaaaat!?”
“Oh, come on. It’s not like that sort of thing should bother us anymore.”
Of course it bothers me! You idiot, Yuna…!
I had told her what Souta did to me—but I didn’t want her to know how I reacted. Even if it was just my body’s involuntary response to the stimulation he gave me…
I sank lower into the tub until my face disappeared under the water, erasing Yuna’s exasperated expression from view.
My sigh turned into bubbles, rising with a quiet gurgle.
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