The Tail End of Spring

After blowing off some of the night's loneliness outside, the dormitory door behind Makoto finally opened.

"Are you done talking?"

"Yeah, Kikyo, you can go now."

Honami smiled as she saw Kushida out of the dormitory.

The latter gave Makoto a playful wink before skipping away.

"Is there anything else, Honami?"

Seeing that Honami made no move to leave with her, Makoto felt a sense of foreboding.

Yet, deep down, there was an indescribable sense of anticipation...

"Because Kikyo was doing this and that on your bed just now, I've decided to stay over tonight."

"Stay over means...?"

"I'm going to properly imprint my own scent onto it."

Honami walked back into Dorm 301, signaling for Makoto to hurry inside.

It was already very late, and with no other options, Makoto stepped into his own dormitory with a sense of trepidation.

"Uh... where do you plan on sleeping?"

"On the bed together, of course. Hurry up and get in~"

Without waiting for an answer, Honami pulled Makoto onto the bed and began preparing for sleep on her own.

"O-okay."

Before he knew it, Makoto had dazed and confusedly crawled under the covers.

Unlike usual, there was now a beautiful girl lying right beside him.

A fresh, citrus scent quietly drifted out, forcing its way into Makoto's mind with unreasonable persistence and stirring up strange fantasies.

For him, this was truly a first—like a bride getting into her sedan chair for the very first time.

Makoto couldn't fall asleep.

After waiting a moment for his eyes to adjust to the darkness, Makoto saw that Honami was wide awake, her bright eyes fixed on him as well.

"Are you not sleeping, Makoto?"

"I can't."

"Hahaha... I suppose so. I can't sleep either."

Honami smiled softly, wiggling closer to close the distance between them.

"My performance lately has been alright, hasn't it?"

"If anything, it's been so good that I can hardly believe it's actually you, Honami."

Makoto spoke honestly. He wanted to pull back, but the bed was too small, and he had nowhere left to go.

"In that case, don't you plan on giving me a reward, Makoto?"

"A reward?"

He repeated the strange word, and memories from the manga he read in his past life suddenly flooded his mind.

Hey, hey, hey, no way, right? Was he really about to become the protagonist of a youth romance series?

"Kikyo already told me everything. You... touched hers, didn't you?"

"...What do you mean, Honami?"

It would be a lie to say Makoto wasn't tempted; he hadn't even properly experienced that feeling yet!

"I've always been here, you know. If you want, I can open my heart to you at any time. Come on..."

Even though the room should have been pitch black, for some reason, Makoto could see the blush spreading across the girl's face.

He couldn't help but reach out to check the girl's temperature.

On this night in early May, as spring transitioned into summer.

He was, in every sense, completely captivated.

"Hurry up, Makoto, get up already..."

Early in the morning, Makoto was pushed and shaken awake by Honami, but he didn't really want to open his eyes.

He had suffered from insomnia last night.

"What is it? Just let me sleep a little longer..."

Makoto mumbled, wanting to catch a few more winks, not even willing to roll over.

"I've already asked for leave for the morning classes, so I'm going to keep sleeping..."

"You clearly promised me and Karuizawa that thing just yesterday."

"Huh?"

Makoto's sleepiness scattered like a wild horse breaking free; he was more than half awake in an instant.

"What thing? How come I don't know about this?"

His mind was incredibly clear at this moment, the kind of clear where he couldn't remember a single thing.

"I'm talking about exercising, of course. Generally speaking, isn't the morning a great time for a workout?"

Honami said with a hint of dissatisfaction, though deep down, she felt a little embarrassed.

Makoto's sleep-deprived state had everything to do with her...

Yet, she had enjoyed a wonderful night's sleep herself.

"Fine, fine, I'm getting up right now..."

Makoto nimbly put on his clothes...

Hm?

He remembered he didn't have the habit of sleeping without clothes on...

I'll just pretend I didn't notice that...

Glancing at the prepared bento, Makoto quickly brushed his teeth and washed his face.

In just a few short minutes, he was fully dressed and ready to go.

"I've already sent a message to Karuizawa; she should be waiting for us downstairs."

Honami said as she opened the dormitory door.

Karuizawa, whom she had just mentioned, was standing right at the entrance of room 301, looking at the two of them.

"..."

"Good morning?"

Makoto greeted her, praying that Karuizawa wouldn't say anything she shouldn't, as that would make everyone feel awkward.

Though, perhaps he was the only one who would feel awkward...

"Let's go for a morning run first to train our basic stamina."

"We'll see if fasted cardio is suitable for your bodies."

I hope it doesn't shrink anything that shouldn't be shrunk.

"Okay."

Karuizawa nodded, showing no intention of asking questions like "Why is Honami coming out of Makoto's room?" or "What did you two do last night?"

That was a huge help.

Makoto sincerely thanked Karuizawa for her understanding.

"Then let's begin. Let's start by running a few laps around the track; the rubber surface will be more comfortable to run on."

Honami and Karuizawa began to run slowly, following Makoto's pace.

"Jogging is the best warm-up."

For Makoto, this speed was nothing more than a warm-up, but for the other two, it was likely just right.

"Karuizawa, you can stop and rest for a bit now."

After five laps, Makoto keenly noticed that Karuizawa was running out of stamina, so he spoke up.

But Karuizawa had no intention of stopping.

She continued to struggle, keeping pace with Honami as they ran.

"This isn't the place to push yourself to the limit."

The sight left Makoto feeling both amused and frustrated; it was just a normal workout, there was no need to try so hard, right?

Seeing that Karuizawa still had no intention of stopping, he had to change his approach.

"I don't like girls who ignore my advice."

As soon as those words were out, Karuizawa finally slowed her pace and came to a halt.

She gasped for air, feeling inferior because of her own weakness; she wanted to keep following behind Makoto just like Honami was doing.

Unfortunately...

Is this as far as I can go for now...?