As the door to Setsuna's room closed, Kotonoha and Sekai's eyes inadvertently met. They exchanged a brief glance before Sekai pressed her lips together and slowly lowered her head, while Kotonoha turned to look at Setsuna's closed door.
"Um… Setsuna and Miyamizu-kun went into the room together."
"I know. What's the matter? Are you curious about what they're doing in there?"
"No, not at all."
Kotonoha shook her head. She wasn't a child anymore. Though she had never been in a relationship herself, years of health education classes and the whispered conversations of her female classmates had made her quite familiar with such matters.
Even so, her face involuntarily flushed, and she lowered her gaze. Suddenly, the TV show playing in front of her lost all its appeal, and she found herself feeling restless.
"You're not curious? Because I kind of am." Sekai leaned back on the couch with a playful smirk. "I mean, going over there alone to eavesdrop wouldn't be right, but if you're interested, we could go together."
With nothing better to do, Sekai found herself growing bored. Seeing the embarrassed blush on Kotonoha's face brought a bit of amusement back to her, and she couldn't resist teasing her.
"Eavesdrop…?"
Kotonoha gave Sekai a questioning look, but when she saw the mischievous smile on her lips, she immediately understood that she was just being toyed with.
Yet, for some reason, a strange sense of disappointment settled in her chest.
She felt ashamed of that fleeting feeling but still found herself stealing another glance toward the closed door. Deep down, she really was curious.
Besides… she never would have expected Setsuna to be alone with Miyamizu-kun while both she and Sekai were still present.
I shouldn't jump to conclusions… maybe they just need to talk in private.
The living room remained silent, offering no hints about what was happening behind that closed door. Kotonoha glanced at Sekai beside her.
Sekai, who had been observing Kotonoha this whole time, noticed that despite her composed exterior, Kotonoha was far from calm. She was probably just as curious and anxious as she was.
Smirking, Sekai subtly scooted closer, leaning against Kotonoha's side. Pressing her lips near her ear, she whispered in a teasing tone,
"If we just walk by casually and pause for a moment, we might hear something interesting. That wouldn't be wrong, would it?"
Warm breath tickled Kotonoha's ear, Sekai's soft voice luring her toward temptation.
"Even so… it's still eavesdropping, isn't it?"
Kotonoha hesitated. She did want to know, but her upbringing told her that this was improper.
"Well, if you're not coming, I'll just go on my own."
Seeing her hesitation, Sekai got up and quietly tiptoed toward the door.
Kotonoha sat stiffly on the couch, watching as Sekai crept closer to the room. Her emotions were tangled—she didn't want to feel left out, yet she also found sneaking around like this terribly improper.
Sekai reached the door and pressed her ear against it. At first, she heard nothing. She frowned, then leaned her whole body against the door, trying to pick up any sounds from inside.
Sitting in the living room, Kotonoha watched Sekai's back as she eavesdropped.
"..."
She bit her lip, still debating whether to join in or not.
Inside the room, Haruto lay on the bed with his eyes closed. At the faint sound of movement near the door, he slowly opened them and turned his head toward the entrance.
Setsuna had also noticed. She glanced down at Haruto, then brought a finger to her lips in a silencing gesture before standing up.
Without warning, the door swung open.
Caught completely off guard, Sekai, who had been leaning against it, lost her balance and tumbled forward onto the floor. Looking up, her gaze met an unexpectedly provocative sight.
Setsuna glanced at her before peering out into the living room. She adjusted her position just enough to block Kotonoha's view, then calmly extended her hand, grabbing Sekai's wrist and pulling her into the room.
And then—
The door shut firmly behind them.
"Eh? Um… Sekai…?"
Kotonoha blinked, frozen in place. She had barely registered what had just happened when she saw the door closing once more.
In that brief moment, she had caught a glimpse of Setsuna's face, her slightly exposed, snowy-white shoulder, and her hand pulling Sekai inside.
And then, she was left alone.
"..."
Kotonoha sat there, her face burning, feeling more restless than ever.
From behind the door, she could hear Sekai's startled exclamations.
"This… this is so unfair!"
"Setsuna, wait—"
"Shut up. Haruto, you don't get to speak."
"But I…"
"Are you giving up? On such a rare opportunity?"
Their voices filtered through the closed door, making Kotonoha's cheeks turn crimson. She clutched the hem of her skirt tightly, pressing her lips together as if she wanted to disappear into herself.
On Saturday, Mai Kiyoura finished her work early, leaving the office ahead of schedule. Since she had time, she decided to stop by Haruto's place to check in on him.
On the way home, she passed through the shopping district and bought some groceries before heading back to her apartment. Just as she stepped inside, she noticed four pairs of shoes at the entrance.
Two of them belonged to Setsuna and Haruto, but the other two were unfamiliar.
Curious, she glanced toward the living room and spotted a young girl sitting on the couch.
"Oh? You must be one of Setsuna's classmates. Your name was…?"
"Kotonoha Katsura," the girl replied, standing up politely. "I'm a friend of Setsuna's. I apologize for the unannounced visit."
"Oh, it's no trouble at all. Any friend of Setsuna's is welcome here. But… where is everyone else? Shouldn't there be four of you?"
Mai's puzzled expression deepened.
There were four pairs of shoes at the entrance, which meant there should be four people inside.
So why was Kotonoha the only one sitting in the living room?
Where were Setsuna, Haruto … and presumably Sekai?
For Setsuna, who had a rather small social circle, Kiyoura Mai didn't have to think too hard to figure out who the extra pair of girls' shoes by the entrance belonged to.
Hearing Mai's voice, Kotonoha Katsura's face instantly flushed red. She cast a glance toward Setsuna's room but said nothing. Following her gaze, Mai also looked in the direction of her daughter's room.
Three people in the room?
She didn't dwell on it. There was nothing particularly strange about it. Instead, she calmly placed the groceries in the fridge, deciding to prep the ingredients first before knocking on her daughter's door to ask why she had left Kotonoha alone in the living room.
Meanwhile, inside the room, the three occupants had already heard Mai's voice. Setsuna, keeping her composure, nudged the dazed Sekai Saionji to bring her back to her senses.
"Mom's back."
Sekai, eyes tightly shut, felt her consciousness slipping into a haze. Upon hearing Setsuna's voice, she slowly blinked her eyes open, looking dazedly at her friend beside her. It took a moment before she snapped back to reality, quickly turning toward Haruto —
Mai, having finished storing the groceries, walked up to her daughter's bedroom door and knocked lightly.
"Setsuna?"
Silence.
Just as she was about to knock again, the door cracked open slightly.
Setsuna peeked out, revealing only half of her face as she looked up at Mai standing at the door.
"What were you doing in there? Haruto and Sekai are in your room too, aren't they?"
"…Yeah."
Mai frowned slightly. Something smelled off. She instinctively tried to glance inside, but before she could, Setsuna quickly stepped out, shutting the door firmly behind her.
"Is something wrong?"
"What were you all doing in there?"
Mai sensed that something wasn't quite right. The way Setsuna was trying to hide things only made her more suspicious. She attempted to peer past her daughter, but the door was already closed, blocking her view.
"…Fortune-telling. It doesn't work if someone else sees it."
"Fortune-telling?"
Mai was skeptical. However, Setsuna's expression remained calm and unwavering, showing no signs of lying. After a brief hesitation, she chose to believe her daughter.
"Then why is Kotonoha alone in the living room?"
"No… um, that's my choice. I'm just not interested in that kind of thing, so I stayed out here," Kotonoha interjected before Setsuna could reply, helping to cover for her.
Mai glanced at the girl, then at Setsuna, before nodding.
"I see. Still, you're not kids anymore. You shouldn't believe in things without any real basis. Anyway, I'll start preparing dinner. Sekai and Kotonoha are staying over tonight, right?"
"Yes," Setsuna nodded.
Kotonoha hesitated. She had originally planned to go home, but when she met Setsuna's gaze, she hesitated again—before eventually nodding in agreement.
"In that case, I'll need to go back out and buy more ingredients. Setsuna, take care of Kotonoha while I'm gone. I'll be back soon."
"Got it."
Mai had only bought enough for a small meal, but upon hearing that Kotonoha would be staying over, she realized she might not have enough. After giving Setsuna a quick reminder, she grabbed her things and headed out to shop again.
Watching her mother leave, Setsuna closed her eyes and let out a small sigh of relief.
Then, turning her gaze toward Kotonoha, she walked over to her, stopping right in front of the girl. A faint smile appeared on her lips.
"…Thanks, Kotonoha."
"No, it's nothing. But… you guys… are you really okay?"
Kotonoha hesitated. She wanted to ask something, but the words got stuck in her throat. She ended up simply voicing her concern.
"…Yeah, we're fine. It's just that… it was Sekai's first time, so she wasn't used to it."
Noticing Setsuna's gaze on her, Kotonoha pressed her lips together, her expression conflicted. After a brief silence, she finally spoke.
"…Isn't this… not really a good thing?"
"It's not," Setsuna admitted. "At least, to most people, something like this would be considered wrong. But… for now, Sekai doesn't seem to hate it, and I don't really mind either."
Her voice was calm as she met Kotonoha's eyes.
"If this can bring happiness to everyone, then I don't see a problem with it. After all, I grew up in a family like this, so I don't find these kinds of relationships particularly unpleasant."
Kotonoha struggled to understand. She wanted to say something but hesitated, watching Setsuna's composed expression. In the end, she fell into silence.
Seeing this, Setsuna smiled gently, offering reassurance.
"You don't have to think too hard about it. If you really can't understand, just pretend you don't know anything."
"…I'll try."
Setsuna didn't press the issue. Instead, she turned her attention back toward her room.
"It's been a while now. I should check on those two and see how they're doing."
"…Yeah."