[Warning 15+]
Part Three"―Seriously, Your Vibe Hasn't Changed a Bit Since the Old Days!"Chapter 92So, What's Your Type?
The afternoon was still blaring hot, with the sun hanging high in the sky.
The study sesh had wrapped up after Iori got a call from his girl, Isami Ema, and had to head out.
"I'm home."
"Oh, Big Bro."
"Welcome back, Hayato."
When Hayato got home, he found Haruki chilling in the living room like she lived there, right next to Himeko. Textbooks were scattered all over the table; Looks like they were grinding for their exams.
Unlike Himeko, who was basically melting onto the table with zero focus left, the second Haruki saw Hayato, she immediately fixed her posture and smoothed out the hem of her dress.
Then Haruki flashed Hayato this "Ehehe" smile, giving off total "normal girl" vibes for once. It made his heart skip a beat more than it should have, so he tried to play it off by acting annoyed.
"Eh, look... ...if you're so worried about it, you should've just worn something more chill so you could actually relax."
Haruki was wearing a summer dress with a wide neckline—simple, but the tiered skirt made it look super cute.
It was a total 180 from Himeko, who was just in a camisole and shorts—definitely not a look you'd show the public—and a far cry from that total fashion disaster of an outfit Haruki'd rocked at home a while back.
"Well, I've never really paid much attention to this kind of stuff before, right? So I figured I should probably start putting some effort into it."
As she said that, Haruki stood up and gave a little twirl, like she was asking for his take on the look.
Haruki's long hair and the hem of her short skirt fluttered, giving a risky glimpse of the tops of her thighs.
Being flashed like that made Hayato instantly turn away, his face beet red as he gave a blunt answer. But Haruki just had that "Ehehe" smirk on her face. Feeling like he'd been totally played, Hayato just scowled.
"Ugh! It's not... ...I mean, it's not bad, I guess?"
"Forget that, Big Bro, listen to this. Haru-chan is being totally weird."
"H-Hime-chan!"
"!? Wh-What do you mean?"
Hayato's voice cracked a bit from the sudden panic of Himeko bringing that up.
Not noticing how rattled Hayato was, Himeko just kept going with her rant.
"So, Haru-chan was helping me with math, right? There isn't a single '2' anywhere in the problem, but she's like, 'Just plug 2 into this n.' And the kicker is, the answer actually comes out right! It makes even less sense now!"
"Oh, I gotcha, say no more. Haruki was exactly the same way back at school."
"H-Hayato, you too!?"
When it comes to schoolwork, Haruki has this crazy sharp intuition. Because of that, she sometimes just skips the whole process to find the answer, especially with math and science. The downside is she's absolutely terrible at teaching anyone else.
Hayato remembered how Haruki'd been holding study sessions lately after school with girls like Mitake Minamo and Isami Ema.
Whenever they asked Haruki a question, she couldn't explain it for the life of her. That actually forced everyone else to break the problems down themselves to make them easier to understand, leading to this weird situation where they actually got more work done. Haruki looked like she felt bad about it, but the others didn't seem to mind. Himeko, being a kouhai though, clearly wasn't a fan.
Ignoring Haruki, who was pouting with her lips stuck out, Hayato let out a little chuckle and finally got back to his usual self.
Figuring now was a good time, Hayato brought up the favor Iori and Kazuki had asked of him.
"Yo, you girls got any plans after finals? I got an invite for us all to hit the pool together."
"Th-The pool!? You mean like, the actual place where you go swimming?"
"I'm in! I totally wanna do the water slides! The ones where you go down on a tube or a raft!"
Their reactions were like night and day.
Haruki was completely caught off guard and started stumbling over her words, while Himeko immediately blurted out a specific request like she’d already done her homework on the place.
"Eh, look... ...Himeko, I was invited too, so a bunch of other people including boys from my high school are gonna be there. I'm fine with it, but... ...are you sure you're cool with that?"
"Ugh, that's... ...let me think about it......"
"And Haruki, if you're not into it or you've got other stuff going on, don't feel like you have to force yourself. I can just tell them we're passing."
"U-Um, it's not like I don't want to go or that I have other plans, but..."
"...Haruki?"
Haruki kept stealing glances at Hayato, her face turning a deep shade of red.
Haruki was twirling the ends of her long hair, looking like she was struggling to find the words. No matter how you looked at it, she was clearly embarrassed.
'I really wanna see Ema in a swimsuit. Don't tell me you don't wanna see Nikaidō in a swimsuit too, Hayato?'
Suddenly, Iori's voice popped into Hayato's head. Hayato realized he hadn't mentioned that Isami Ema was feeling shy about it too, or that other girls were coming.
Maybe Haruki had taken it the wrong way.
Just as Hayato turned around in a panic to try and explain, his eyes met Haruki's, who was looking up at him like she'd finally made up her mind.
"I-I can't swim...!"
"Haru... ...wait, what?"
"I mean, I'm basically a lead weight in the water!!"
"Oh, is that so?"
Then it clicked.
Back when they were in Tsukinose, they used to play in the river all the time.
But they were always just climbing over rocks and jumping off, hunting for crawfish, or chasing after trout with nets. They never actually swam. Honestly, the river wasn't even deep enough for that kind of thing, though.
Hayato stared back at Haruki with a totally shocked look, but she just pouted and turned her face away with a "Wh-What's it to you!?" vibe.
Seeing Haruki act all salty like that actually made Hayato laugh, and his hand just naturally reached out to her head. He started ruffling her hair, basically trying to soothe her like she was a kid.
"Look, the pool isn't just about actually swimming, right? You can just float around on a tube, or hit the diving boards and slides—that sounds like a blast."
"That only works for people who can actually swim... ...Besides, it's embarrassing being a total lead weight in the water."
"Want me to teach you how?"
"Oh, you asked for it! Fine, I'll teach you that the human body was definitely not built to float on water."
"You're such an idiot."
Watching Hayato and Haruki flirt—uh, mess around like that—Himeko just glared at them and let out a frustrated groan.
Since Himeko is super shy, the idea of tagging along with her big bro's classmates was a pretty big hurdle for her.
"Ugh, you two are getting all hyped up on your own! Seriously!"
"My bad, my bad."
"But also, there's the whole swimsuit situation. I don't really have a decent one."
"Oh, I don't have one either."
"All I've got is my school-issued one from Tsukinose."
Even Hayato wasn't planning on rocking something like that.
That said, as long as Hayato didn't stand out in some weird way, he didn't really care. Worst-case scenario, he figured he'd just buy one at the pool on the day of, but apparently, it's not that simple for the ladies.
Himeko and Haruki both looked pretty stumped as they started scrolling through their smartphones for ideas.
Hayato watched them with a faint smile and turned around to head back to his room, but then Haruki gave the hem of his shirt a little tug.
"Hey, Hayato... ...what's your type?"
"My...!?"
Getting hit with a question like that out of nowhere almost made Hayato shout, but he choked it back along with his surprise. He could feel his face heating up instantly.
"Like, do you think a cute pink one or a classy black one would look better? What do you think?"
"D-Don't be stupid! How should I know!? We only ever had the school pool back in Tsukinose...!"
"Ahaha, I guess so... ...well, I'll just pick out something that'll give you something to look forward to on the big day, then."
"O-Oh... ...okay..."
That was Haruki's low-key way of saying she was definitely going. Hayato aggressively scratched his head and gave in.
Part of Hayato was dying to see what Haruki would look like in a swimsuit, but at the same time, he hated the idea of anyone else seeing her like that. Still, he realized that this restless feeling in his chest actually felt... ...kind of good. It was a weird-*ss sensation.
And Haruki, still clutching Hayato's shirt, was acting... ...kind of weird.
Haruki looked a bit troubled, glancing back and forth between Hayato and Himeko like she was struggling to spit something out.
"Haruki...?"
When Hayato asked Haruki what was up, she gave a firm nod, leaned in close to Hayato's ear, and whispered.
"Hey, do you think I could come along when you go visit Auntie, Hayato's Mom, too...?"
"Wait, what!?"
That totally caught Hayato off guard.
Hayato's eyes went wide in shock, and he stared at Haruki like he was trying to read what was going on inside her head.
Maybe she took Hayato's stare the wrong way, because Haruki's expression started to cloud over, and she let out a tiny, whispered apology.
"...Sorry, I guess sometimes that kind of thing is off-limits if you're not family, right?"
"Wait, no, that's not it! I was just caught off guard since it was so sudden. Honestly, visiting Mom is totally fine. It's not like what Mom has is contagious or anything."
"So, can I come too?"
As Hayato scrambled to fix his blunder, Haruki leaned in close, staring right into his eyes.
Getting hit with a gaze that intense—straightforward and stunningly clear—it was no wonder Hayato's heart started racing.
Trying to keep his cool so she wouldn't notice how rattled he was, Hayato looked away, only to see Himeko still basically melted onto the table. He let out a long sigh.
"I just... ...really want to get to know more about you and Hime-chan."
After hearing Haruki say that, Hayato really only had one answer left.
"...Fine. You can come."
TL: Reeze27
ED: Reeze27
PR: Reeze27
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The afternoon was still blaring hot, with the sun hanging high in the sky.
The study sesh had wrapped up after Iori got a call from his girl, Isami Ema, and had to head out.
"I'm home."
"Oh, Big Bro."
"Welcome back, Hayato."
When Hayato got home, he found Haruki chilling in the living room like she lived there, right next to Himeko. Textbooks were scattered all over the table; Looks like they were grinding for their exams.
Unlike Himeko, who was basically melting onto the table with zero focus left, the second Haruki saw Hayato, she immediately fixed her posture and smoothed out the hem of her dress.
Then Haruki flashed Hayato this "Ehehe" smile, giving off total "normal girl" vibes for once. It made his heart skip a beat more than it should have, so he tried to play it off by acting annoyed.
"Eh, look... ...if you're so worried about it, you should've just worn something more chill so you could actually relax."
Haruki was wearing a summer dress with a wide neckline—simple, but the tiered skirt made it look super cute.
It was a total 180 from Himeko, who was just in a camisole and shorts—definitely not a look you'd show the public—and a far cry from that total fashion disaster of an outfit Haruki'd rocked at home a while back.
"Well, I've never really paid much attention to this kind of stuff before, right? So I figured I should probably start putting some effort into it."
As she said that, Haruki stood up and gave a little twirl, like she was asking for his take on the look.
Haruki's long hair and the hem of her short skirt fluttered, giving a risky glimpse of the tops of her thighs.
Being flashed like that made Hayato instantly turn away, his face beet red as he gave a blunt answer. But Haruki just had that "Ehehe" smirk on her face. Feeling like he'd been totally played, Hayato just scowled.
"Ugh! It's not... ...I mean, it's not bad, I guess?"
"Forget that, Big Bro, listen to this. Haru-chan is being totally weird."
"H-Hime-chan!"
"!? Wh-What do you mean?"
Hayato's voice cracked a bit from the sudden panic of Himeko bringing that up.
Not noticing how rattled Hayato was, Himeko just kept going with her rant.
"So, Haru-chan was helping me with math, right? There isn't a single '2' anywhere in the problem, but she's like, 'Just plug 2 into this n.' And the kicker is, the answer actually comes out right! It makes even less sense now!"
"Oh, I gotcha, say no more. Haruki was exactly the same way back at school."
"H-Hayato, you too!?"
When it comes to schoolwork, Haruki has this crazy sharp intuition. Because of that, she sometimes just skips the whole process to find the answer, especially with math and science. The downside is she's absolutely terrible at teaching anyone else.
Hayato remembered how Haruki'd been holding study sessions lately after school with girls like Mitake Minamo and Isami Ema.
Whenever they asked Haruki a question, she couldn't explain it for the life of her. That actually forced everyone else to break the problems down themselves to make them easier to understand, leading to this weird situation where they actually got more work done. Haruki looked like she felt bad about it, but the others didn't seem to mind. Himeko, being a kouhai though, clearly wasn't a fan.
Ignoring Haruki, who was pouting with her lips stuck out, Hayato let out a little chuckle and finally got back to his usual self.
Figuring now was a good time, Hayato brought up the favor Iori and Kazuki had asked of him.
"Yo, you girls got any plans after finals? I got an invite for us all to hit the pool together."
"Th-The pool!? You mean like, the actual place where you go swimming?"
"I'm in! I totally wanna do the water slides! The ones where you go down on a tube or a raft!"
Their reactions were like night and day.
Haruki was completely caught off guard and started stumbling over her words, while Himeko immediately blurted out a specific request like she’d already done her homework on the place.
"Eh, look... ...Himeko, I was invited too, so a bunch of other people including boys from my high school are gonna be there. I'm fine with it, but... ...are you sure you're cool with that?"
"Ugh, that's... ...let me think about it......"
"And Haruki, if you're not into it or you've got other stuff going on, don't feel like you have to force yourself. I can just tell them we're passing."
"U-Um, it's not like I don't want to go or that I have other plans, but..."
"...Haruki?"
Haruki kept stealing glances at Hayato, her face turning a deep shade of red.
Haruki was twirling the ends of her long hair, looking like she was struggling to find the words. No matter how you looked at it, she was clearly embarrassed.
'I really wanna see Ema in a swimsuit. Don't tell me you don't wanna see Nikaidō in a swimsuit too, Hayato?'
Suddenly, Iori's voice popped into Hayato's head. Hayato realized he hadn't mentioned that Isami Ema was feeling shy about it too, or that other girls were coming.
Maybe Haruki had taken it the wrong way.
Just as Hayato turned around in a panic to try and explain, his eyes met Haruki's, who was looking up at him like she'd finally made up her mind.
"I-I can't swim...!"
"Haru... ...wait, what?"
"I mean, I'm basically a lead weight in the water!!"
"Oh, is that so?"
Then it clicked.
Back when they were in Tsukinose, they used to play in the river all the time.
But they were always just climbing over rocks and jumping off, hunting for crawfish, or chasing after trout with nets. They never actually swam. Honestly, the river wasn't even deep enough for that kind of thing, though.
Hayato stared back at Haruki with a totally shocked look, but she just pouted and turned her face away with a "Wh-What's it to you!?" vibe.
Seeing Haruki act all salty like that actually made Hayato laugh, and his hand just naturally reached out to her head. He started ruffling her hair, basically trying to soothe her like she was a kid.
"Look, the pool isn't just about actually swimming, right? You can just float around on a tube, or hit the diving boards and slides—that sounds like a blast."
"That only works for people who can actually swim... ...Besides, it's embarrassing being a total lead weight in the water."
"Want me to teach you how?"
"Oh, you asked for it! Fine, I'll teach you that the human body was definitely not built to float on water."
"You're such an idiot."
Watching Hayato and Haruki flirt—uh, mess around like that—Himeko just glared at them and let out a frustrated groan.
Since Himeko is super shy, the idea of tagging along with her big bro's classmates was a pretty big hurdle for her.
"Ugh, you two are getting all hyped up on your own! Seriously!"
"My bad, my bad."
"But also, there's the whole swimsuit situation. I don't really have a decent one."
"Oh, I don't have one either."
"All I've got is my school-issued one from Tsukinose."
Even Hayato wasn't planning on rocking something like that.
That said, as long as Hayato didn't stand out in some weird way, he didn't really care. Worst-case scenario, he figured he'd just buy one at the pool on the day of, but apparently, it's not that simple for the ladies.
Himeko and Haruki both looked pretty stumped as they started scrolling through their smartphones for ideas.
Hayato watched them with a faint smile and turned around to head back to his room, but then Haruki gave the hem of his shirt a little tug.
"Hey, Hayato... ...what's your type?"
"My...!?"
Getting hit with a question like that out of nowhere almost made Hayato shout, but he choked it back along with his surprise. He could feel his face heating up instantly.
"Like, do you think a cute pink one or a classy black one would look better? What do you think?"
"D-Don't be stupid! How should I know!? We only ever had the school pool back in Tsukinose...!"
"Ahaha, I guess so... ...well, I'll just pick out something that'll give you something to look forward to on the big day, then."
"O-Oh... ...okay..."
That was Haruki's low-key way of saying she was definitely going. Hayato aggressively scratched his head and gave in.
Part of Hayato was dying to see what Haruki would look like in a swimsuit, but at the same time, he hated the idea of anyone else seeing her like that. Still, he realized that this restless feeling in his chest actually felt... ...kind of good. It was a weird-*ss sensation.
And Haruki, still clutching Hayato's shirt, was acting... ...kind of weird.
Haruki looked a bit troubled, glancing back and forth between Hayato and Himeko like she was struggling to spit something out.
"Haruki...?"
When Hayato asked Haruki what was up, she gave a firm nod, leaned in close to Hayato's ear, and whispered.
"Hey, do you think I could come along when you go visit Auntie, Hayato's Mom, too...?"
"Wait, what!?"
That totally caught Hayato off guard.
Hayato's eyes went wide in shock, and he stared at Haruki like he was trying to read what was going on inside her head.
Maybe she took Hayato's stare the wrong way, because Haruki's expression started to cloud over, and she let out a tiny, whispered apology.
"...Sorry, I guess sometimes that kind of thing is off-limits if you're not family, right?"
"Wait, no, that's not it! I was just caught off guard since it was so sudden. Honestly, visiting Mom is totally fine. It's not like what Mom has is contagious or anything."
"So, can I come too?"
As Hayato scrambled to fix his blunder, Haruki leaned in close, staring right into his eyes.
Getting hit with a gaze that intense—straightforward and stunningly clear—it was no wonder Hayato's heart started racing.
Trying to keep his cool so she wouldn't notice how rattled he was, Hayato looked away, only to see Himeko still basically melted onto the table. He let out a long sigh.
"I just... ...really want to get to know more about you and Hime-chan."
After hearing Haruki say that, Hayato really only had one answer left.
"...Fine. You can come."
TL: Reeze27
ED: Reeze27
PR: Reeze27
If you like our work, please consider supporting us on Ko-fi. 🙏
Support Us: https://ko-fi.com/ninjacross
Donations are very much appreciated.
Your donations really support us to finish this novel from here until the end, so please consider to support us.
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Read in other languages: