"I need to go out." Fushimi Roku ruthlessly shattered her fantasy.
Minamoto Tamako frowned, just about to criticize Mr. Fu Jian for abandoning his sister, when Taira Sakurako suddenly said, "Perfect, you should go out together. I’ll go back to my room to rest a bit."
Minamoto Tamako refused to leave, insisting on staying at the inn, even if she didn’t speak, she was happy to sit in the living room, fearing that Sakurako would disappear again.
Seeing this, Taira Sakurako sighed deeply, walked barefoot across the hallway, came up behind Minamoto Tamako, slightly leaned forward, and whispered, "Don’t worry, I won’t run around anymore."
Minamoto Tamako looked hesitant, "But..."
"Don’t you want some alone time with him? Perfect, I won’t disturb you." Taira Sakurako patted her shoulder.
Minamoto Tamako was stunned for a moment, her face turned red, burning hot, even the ice cream in her hand started melting faster.
Did Sakurako see through her?
She wanted to argue, but felt guilty as if caught; she stammered, saying ’not at all,’ ’I don’t want to,’ ’what nonsense is this’... Taira Sakurako remained expressionless, but her gaze was similar to when they first met.
Minamoto Tamako fell silent.
She quietly watched Taira Sakurako pass through the hallway and return to her room, her heart inexplicably racing, leaving only her and Mr. Fu Jian in the lounge.
This was truly being alone together.
Alone in a room, just the two of them.
Initially, when Mr. Fu Jian was ’reserving a room’ with the host at Shuoshan Temple, Minamoto Tamako was anxious—they would be cramped together in one room for the night, what if Mr. Fu Jian sneaked in for an attack? Or what if Mr. Fu Jian had other bad intentions?
As it turned out, she was overthinking it; they didn’t even have the time to sleep that night.
The next day, she insisted on investigating, and Mr. Fu Jian went back to Shuoshan Temple by himself to catch up on sleep, which got him penalized... Until the day after, the inn freed up a room, plus Sakurako needed to sleep, it was naturally impossible for them to be in one room alone.
Fushimi Roku didn’t hear their whispered conversation, feeling satisfied, it was time to get down to business, so he got up to change shoes at the entrance, only to look up and find Minamoto Tamako following him.
"Weren’t you going to stay with Sakurako?" Fushimi Roku sensed a bad omen.
"Sakurako needs to be alone right now, she doesn’t want to be disturbed." Minamoto Tamako said earnestly.
This wasn’t entirely a lie; she also wanted solitude when she felt down, to quietly process her emotions alone.
Of course, situations vary from person to person, some people are more introverted and need friends’ comfort to process negative emotions alone, like Kawai, who must vent to Minamoto Tamako when something unpleasant occurs.
Fushimi Roku was stuck, he didn’t know what reason to use to send Minamoto Tamako away.
"Where are you planning to go today?" Minamoto Tamako, with the cone shell in her mouth, started changing shoes on her own, apparently determined to go out with him today.
Fushimi Roku gave her a sidelong glance and said, "Since we’re here in Atami, of course, we should go to the hot spring... do you want to go too?"
"T-together would be fine."
Minamoto Tamako lowered her head, not daring to meet his eyes.
Fushimi Roku could only see the small crown of her head, with her long hair hanging down, covering her profile.
"But it might not be a good idea, I’ve heard Atami is all mixed baths, more like pools than hot springs..."
Before Fushimi Roku finished speaking, Minamoto Tamako had already slipped off her shoes and dashed upstairs, saying, "Then wait for me, I’ll get my swimsuit!"
Fushimi Roku was stunned for a moment, wondering if this person had brought a swimsuit before heading out? Did she prepare in advance for mixed bathing?
No, that couldn’t be.
He quickly realized that this trip was originally planned for the Atami beach, so it wouldn’t be strange for Minamoto Tamako to bring a swimsuit.
Fushimi Roku intended to just leave, but if he pulled another disappearing act, Minamoto Tamako might just explode on the spot, not to mention he wasn’t a first-time offender; if he did it again, even a Redemption Voucher might not win her forgiveness.
Helplessly, he sat waiting by the porch.
Unexpectedly, this waiting lasted over an hour, and even though Fushimi Roku had patience, he started to feel impatient, given that he wasn’t particularly patient to begin with, he rushed to Minamoto Tamako’s room to see what was taking her so long.
"What are you dawdling around for, trying to shave years off my life, you..."
Fushimi Roku casually slid open the door, only to see Minamoto Tamako in a changed outfit: a white shirt with a navy blue double-breasted blazer on top, a pair of black stockings with a pleated skirt below, making her legs appear long and slender.
At the moment, she was kneeling in front of a mirror, carefully arranging her hair, trying to tame the cowlick on the top of her head.
The half-eaten ice cream was left in a cup, already melted into a puddle of toffee.
"Hey?! Why didn’t you knock before coming in!!" Minamoto Tamako was startled.
"Someone said ’wait for her a moment,’ and it turned into more than an hour of dawdling, should I not check in?" Fushimi Roku retorted.
"You should at least knock!"
Minamoto Tamako blushed, pushing him out of the room, and fussed for another twenty minutes before finally, like a girl emerging bashfully from a bath, she shyly slid open the door.
But Fushimi Roku didn’t spare her a glance, he went straight out the door, hurrying as if escaping from some primordial beast—according to the Yuzi Beast Danger Level Ranking Table in his head, Minamoto Tamako’s danger level had reached a critical point, he couldn’t afford to get any closer!!
Minamoto Tamako, after carefully dressing up, was naturally in a bad mood from being neglected, she took out a White Notebook from her purse, took revenge fiercely, deducting another 0.25 points from Mr. Fu Jian.
Now Mr. Fu Jian was left with only 60.25 points.
The two left the inn one after the other, walking separately down the pedestrian street, squeezing through the crowd... Minamoto Tamako wanted to catch up, at least to walk side by side, even keeping a little distance.
Yet, she hesitated for a long time, gazing at the edge of her skirt, inching forward step by step without crossing the invisible line.
"Not waiting for her to walk with" -0.1 points deducted.
This time, after marking down the grievance, Minamoto Tamako felt no satisfaction from venting, but instead a deep sense of loss.
She vaguely felt that this evaluation was merely wishful thinking on her part.
Sister Yalan suggested she observe Mr. Fu Jian when alone to determine whether he liked her. She hadn’t not considered the possibility of "No," she just kept avoiding it.
Maybe, Mr. Fu Jian simply didn’t have those thoughts towards her...
With her head down, Minamoto Tamako picked at her fingernails, feeling a bit congested inside her chest, like something was stuffed in there. It was a bit uncomfortable, but not heavily so.
Walking on, she noticed familiar shoes from the corner of her eye, her gaze followed up the pant legs, realizing that at some point, Fushimi Roku had slowed his pace.
They walked in tandem, strolling down the long street.