Living with the Arrogant Queen from High School is Surprisingly Not Uncomfortable

“This place won’t do either.”

At the station where Hayashi and I got off, we were bouncing from one business hotel to another. We would enter the entrance and ask the receptionist if they could accommodate us for the night, but we didn’t receive any favorable responses.

Honestly, I was at a loss.

Should we take a taxi home?

But then again, Hayashi said she’s tired.

“Hey, Yamamoto.”

“Hmm?”

“We haven’t checked that place yet.”

Hayashi pointed to a hotel.

The neon sign of that hotel, mysteriously glowing, was slightly different from the other hotels we had seen.

I let out a weary sigh. Deliberately, I made sure Hayashi heard it. But my blatant attitude seemed to have no effect on her.

“…You, that place is not good.”

“It’s just a love hotel, right?”

“…That’s why it’s bad.”

“Why?”

“Because it’s an indecent place.”

“What’s that about? Why are you suddenly acting like my guardian?”

Hayashi talked eloquently.

Lately, she has become quite silent out of the blue. In such times, when I hear her verbose comments like in high school, I have a hard time keeping up.

To use a baseball analogy… it’s like pitching with changes in speed. It’s hard to hit a changeup that comes after a straight, right? You know what I mean.

“…It’s not like we’re going in there to do anything indecent.”

“I get that, but…”

“You said it, right?”

“Huh?”

“We’re a family, right?”

…Well…

Of course, if we’re family, we wouldn’t do anything indecent… but that was just a figure of speech.

“You probably don’t know, but we’re not really a family.”

“Eh, Yamamoto, you lied?”

“You’ve been acting strange since earlier, you know?”

“…Let’s go.”

Hayashi forcefully took my hand and I reluctantly entered the hotel.

Fortunately, it seems there was a room available. With practiced ease, Hayashi booked the room.

…I realize now, but she must have come to such a place with a previous lover.

Of course, I have no intention of meddling in that. I don’t intend to bring it up.

I’m just a little surprised that there’s a side of her that I haven’t seen recently.

Even though it should be obvious if I think about it.

We first met in high school, disliked each other, had a fateful reunion, and now here we are.

It’s only natural.

There are sides of Hayashi that I don’t know.

“Haah.”

As soon as we entered the room, Hayashi jumped onto the bed.

The bed at our home is a single size. The bed in this hotel looked… very big, and I’m sure it actually was.

“Yamamoto.”

While lying on her back on the bed, Hayashi called out to me.

“Come here.”

I didn’t say anything.

I just started walking.

…I don’t understand Hayashi’s true intentions.

She said she’s tired.

We came here… to rest.

But.

…But.

Even though there were no vacancies at other hotels, we didn’t have to stay at a hotel like this.

There should have been plenty of other options.

Even if we couldn’t take a taxi home, we could have gone to an internet cafe, or karaoke….

There should have been other options.

I laid down on my back next to Hayashi.

“I’ve never been more confused about you than I am today.”

“…Confused?”

“Yeah.”

“That’s because you don’t know enough about me.”

“…That might be true. We were like cats and dogs in high school.”

“That’s right.”

Hayashi got up.

I didn’t have the energy to get up.

“Where are you going?”

I asked.

“To the bath.”

As I heard Hayashi’s footsteps, I closed my eyes.

After a while, I heard the sound of the shower running from the bathroom.