Chapter 205

Even now, Kirishima Ai still hasn't shown any intention of coming in for a bath; instead, she's been standing by the tub wrapped in a towel for a long time.

"..."

Kirishima Ai's gaze kept shifting.

She looked a little awkward, clutching the towel in one hand, unsure whether to let go, while her other hand seemed unsure of what to do.

Of course, Haihara wasn't oblivious to this thought.

She turned around:

"The water is a bit hot, be careful."

After a while, Haihara heard Kirishima enter the water.

After that, Haihara slowly turned around and saw Kirishima Ai soaking in the hot spring just like her, with only her shoulders and neck, which were slightly pinkish-white due to the water temperature, showing.

Noticing Haihara's gaze, Kirishima Ai lowered her head:

"Teacher, what's wrong?"

This time, Haihara was in a daze for a little while.

The girl in the bathtub, her face flushed, seemed... very cute to her.

It's not the kind of cuteness you feel when looking at a small animal.

Rather, it was because Kirishima Ai, a woman much younger than her, was found adorable by Haihara.

"... nothing."

Haihara awkwardly tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, pretending nothing had happened.

Perhaps the water temperature was a bit too high.

This made Haihara feel noticeably hotter than usual.

Just like a snake that's been basking in the sun, it's more likely to move around a little more.

After soaking together for a while, the two of them gradually became more comfortable with each other, especially Haihara.

Soaking in a hot spring is really nice in this cold weather.

Haihara felt that the fatigue she had been experiencing from work recently was gradually relaxing and easing.

My mood improved as a result.

She planned to tease the Problem Child:

Is the water temperature still suitable?

Ai Kirishima Ai's face is flushed, perhaps because she was soaking in the hot spring, or for other reasons.

She nodded.

"It's hotter than I expected, but I think it's fine."

While soaking in the hot spring, Kirishima Ai also felt much more relaxed.

This is a rare three-day holiday.

She doesn't need to go to school, doesn't need to work, and doesn't need to fight Monster as a Magic girl.

Moreover, she wasn't the only one here.

Although she went through a lot of bad things recently, she feels she can almost forget about them now.

Just as she was thinking this—

"Maple Plain Festival, do you still remember it?"

"Haihara said suddenly."

"Um."

Kirishima Ai nodded, seemingly understanding.

She hadn't expected Teacher Haihara to suddenly bring up the topic of the Maple Plain Festival.

As Magic girl, when she thinks of the Maple Plain Festival, the first thing that comes to mind is the Chameleon that first appeared before them at that festival.

Since then, she has experienced a lot of hardships.

However, Kirishima Ai thought that the mystery of why the Monster's host was Teacher Haihara in the first place still seemed to remain unsolved...

"That time, I told you that if you came to watch the fireworks with me at the end, I would forget everything that happened between us before."

"However, because of the Monster incident, this plan ultimately fell through."

Haihara spoke in a flat tone, but it sounded as if she were saying, "What a pity."

This Kirishima Ai for a moment.

She seemed to have forgotten that, although the Monster incident at the Maple Plain Festival was a troublesome night for her, with a dangerous Monster appearing.

However, she had originally been invited by Teacher Haihara to watch the fireworks together.

Yes... yes.

Kirishima Ai recalled the details of that incident.

She kissed Teacher Haihara in her office, and to this day, she has not given Teacher Haihara a reasonable explanation.

Originally, there was finally a chance to make things clear at the Maple Plain Festival.

Explain clearly why she kissed Teacher Haihara then.

But the truth is, even now, she herself knows nothing about it.

She opened her mouth, as if to say something.

However, she could neither openly and honestly express her true feelings, nor did she want to say something insincere or perfunctory.

Kirishima Ai somewhat lost; she gently clasped her hands together underwater, her fingers moving back and forth.

"Teacher, when I got back to my room, you told me that I actually wanted to leave Ms. Tachibana's place as soon as possible, right?"

"Um."

"That's because you were only focused on talking to Ms. Tachibana, so I..."

At the time, Teacher Haihara was speaking politely to the hotel owner from an adult's perspective; it was just a normal thing she did to avoid embarrassment.

But as a child, she could only stay in the corner and remain silent.

At that time, Teacher Haihara's appearance somewhat overlapped with the appearance of Kirishima Ai's parents in her memories.

So she was a little disappointed.

As for Teacher Haihara's words about "having already decided to spend the rest of her life with someone," Kirishima Ai felt that she didn't understand and perhaps it would be better not to delve into it.

Seeing Kirishima Ai's dejected look, Haihara realized that it seemed to be her fault.

She knew very early on that Kirishima Ai was a sensitive and complex child.

It reminded her of the protagonist of a Gundam anime she Kougami when she was little. She remembered his name was Kamille, a name that sounded like a woman's.

Yes, when Kirishima Ai transformed into a Magic girl, she also quite enjoyed hand-to-hand combat.

Haihara thought for a moment, then looked at Kirishima Ai:

"If I hugged you now, would you feel better?"

Kirishima Ai thought she had misheard.

In fact, Haihara explained it very clearly, and it was impossible for her to have misheard.

"... Do you mean, a hug?"

Teacher Haihara always says things she never thought of and does things she never imagined.

If she could, she would definitely want to hug him.

But why would Teacher Haihara agree to this?

She had done that to Teacher Haihara in the office before, and Teacher Haihara responded to her like that in this kind of place.

That might make her misunderstand...

"Why... why? Isn't it a bit strange to do this? Teacher, you don't need to force yourself..."

Kirishima Ai turned her face away, trying her best not to look at Haihara.

She really wanted to.

But doing that would be absolutely bizarre.

But Haihara only said:

So, will your mood improve?

When Kirishima Ai quietly raised her head again to look at Haihara, the woman still wore that gloomy and perpetually silent expression.

The woman wasn't wearing her usual glasses, and she could clearly see her dark, lifeless eyes.

She had never been hugged by this woman before.

However, at this moment she began to wonder what it felt like to be embraced by a woman.

Normally, a woman's hug would probably be very cold.

But now we're in a hot spring, and we don't even have clothes on, just bare skin with no fabric to get in the way.

"... Um."

Kirishima Ai still didn't shake her head against her will.

After she did that, the woman slowly came over from the other side of the bath.

The hot spring is not deep.

Therefore, when it's time to leave, a woman should expose some of her skin.

Kirishima Ai dares not look at anything now.

The first thing we perceive is not our eyes, but our bodies.

Her neck and cheeks felt a warm, soft sensation she would never forget, not only from Haihara's delicate skin but also from the dripping hot spring water.

She still managed to see where the hot spring water was dripping from.

My nose feels hot.

Kirishima Ai knew she was about to reach her limit; she needed to calm herself down.

But the woman's fragrant and soft area made her almost breathless.

She didn't know what she was thinking, but by the time she realized it, she had already wrapped her arms around the woman's waist.

Why is it so fine?

It was completely different from what she was seeing on her face.

She wanted to lift her head and look at something else, something that would only make her lose control. So, she wanted to see Teacher Haihara's face.

However, she saw a scene she had never expected.

A blush crept onto the woman's expressionless face.

That was definitely not caused by the hot spring being too hot.

Then, because she was pressed against Teacher Haihara's chest, Kirishima Ai also heard a sound that was getting faster and faster.

"Teacher, your heart is beating very fast, and your face is very red..."

Kirishima Ai never imagined things would turn out this way.

"..."

The only response she received was the woman's silence.

After a while, Haihara turned her face away. Although it was still a cold expression, this attempt to conceal something made Kirishima Ai want to see more, and she couldn't contain her excitement.

At that moment, Kirishima Ai thought that perhaps she had misheard; she hadn't heard her heartbeat very clearly.

She wanted to get even closer.

Kirishima Ai thought to herself, then, with the inexperience of a beginner—naive, cautious, uneasy yet full of curiosity—she couldn't help but... kiss him.