"So soft."
Aoyama couldn't resist poking Shiina's slender arm, whose smooth skin had a jade-like glow.
It felt just as it looked: soft and squishy, hardly any different from a marshmallow.
Shiina pouted a little. "Who said you could poke me? It's still a little firm, okay?"
"I'm going to poke you here, too."
He lifted a finger and poked Shiina's smooth, delicate cheek instead.
Then Shiina trapped his right hand between both of hers.
"Aoyama must be busy, too. You don't have to stay here with me." A little embarrassed, Shiina only glanced at Aoyama's face before looking away.
"I have plenty to do, but staying here with Shiina is important, too."
He needed to return the things in his backpack to Karuizawa, attend Class A's eight o'clock roll call, and investigate who the leader of Class C was.
Just as Shiina had said, Aoyama had plenty to do.
"I told you I'm fine already. Go take care of your own business, Aoyama."
"Look, I'm not hot anymore."
She pressed Aoyama's right palm to her forehead and spoke in a bashful voice.
Only a dead person wouldn't be hot at all, young lady.
Aoyama couldn't help teasing her. "If you really weren't hot at all, I'd immediately notify the school and have them send a helicopter to see if they could save you."
On the first day they disembarked, a helicopter had landed on the cruise ship's deck.
He didn't know whether it had been prepared because of Sakayanagi Arisu or if that had been the plan from the start.
"That would be quite the emergency." Shiina giggled.
"So take good care of yourself and get some more rest today."
He took his hand away from her smooth forehead, pulled his backpack in front of him, and opened it.