Couple Hotel

Sunday.

For students, it was a pure day of rest, naturally making it the most precious time of the week.

Everyone spent it differently—some stayed home all day reading manga, some went shopping with friends, and others wandered alone, enjoying good food.

And at this very moment, I was in the middle of one such scene...

"Hehe... Hachiman."

"What is it?"

"Can I keep being clingy for a little longer?"

"Suit yourself."

"Thank you... Teehee."

On the bed in my room, Hiyori was shamelessly clinging to me. It was already ten in the morning, and nearly three hours had passed since we woke up, but she still showed no sign of tiring of rubbing her cheek against mine.

She was so cute it was practically cheating. Even after three hours of her clinging to me, I wasn't the least bit tired of it.

However...

"Sorry, Hiyori, shouldn't we get up? I'm getting a little hungry."

After all, it was past ten, and my empty stomach was starting to urge me to eat.

"You're right. I'm a little hungry too. I'll leave it to you, Hachiman~"

As she spoke, Hiyori held out her forehead as usual, and I gave her the customary little kiss. Then she smiled sweetly and returned the kiss.

Good-morning and good-night kisses, along with a grateful hug after meals, had become part of our daily routine. The power of habit was frightening, but Hiyori was just too cute. There was nothing to be done about it.

After breakfast, we headed to the shopping mall. There were quite a few things we needed to buy. The first priority was getting a DVD player so we could rent movies and watch them. Also, I'd been feeling tired lately, so if the price was right, I was considering getting a massage chair.

Come to think of it, can you use Private Points to upgrade your dorm room to a larger one?

If that was possible, it would be worth saving up for. Our belongings had been piling up lately, and Hiyori and Sakanayanagi had brought over quite a few things as well. We still had room to spare, but reaching this point just three months after starting school was an impressive rate of expansion.

For now, we'd take care of the DVD player.

"Hiyori, can we go to the electronics section first?"

"Of course."

The girl linked to my arm readily agreed. As we headed for the electronics section, we ran into three of our classmates at the entrance.

"Oh, good afternoon, Hikigaya!"

Kushida, Ayanokoji, and Sakura were approaching us in an unusual combination.

"What are you doing here?"

"I accidentally broke Sakura's digital camera, so we're going to get it repaired."

Kushida pointed to Sakura beside her. Oh, that. Actually, I was also responsible, since I'd been looking at my terminal while walking at the time.

Thinking of that, I tore a page from my notebook, wrote down my terminal number, and handed it to Sakura.

"You said not to worry about it last time, but I'm responsible too. If the repair costs points, contact me at this number and let me know the amount and account."

I practically forced the note into Sakura's hand. Given her personality, she'd probably refuse anyway, but I had to repay this debt.

"Well, we'll be going."

"Huh? So soon?"

"I'm not good at group activities. Let's go, Hiyori."

After answering Kushida's question, I took Hiyori by the hand and headed for the audiovisual section. I spotted an inexpensive DVD player priced at ten thousand points and bought it right away. As long as it played DVDs, that was enough. Value for money came first.

"Is there anything you want to buy, Hiyori?"

"No. All I want is books, and... time with you, Hachiman."

"..."

Th-that was cheating! Saying something like that so bashfully was unbearably embarrassing.

"...Thanks."

After mumbling out a reply, I turned toward the massage chair section. The price tags ranged from one hundred thousand to three hundred thousand points.

I'll put that off for now. I'll think about the three-hundred-thousand-point one once I've saved up three million.

My goal was to save three million points before the second term. Everything in this school could be bought and sold—even exam scores—so the more I had saved up, the better.

I figured there would be Special Exams over summer break that would let us earn a lot of Class Points and Private Points, so reaching my goal shouldn't be difficult. As for Class Points, there wasn't much hope there. Class D currently lacked both ability and unity. Class B had both, Class C was highly unified despite Ryuen's dictatorship, and although Class A was divided into factions, their ability far exceeded ours. Compared to that, focusing on my own performance and earning Private Points was more realistic.

"Hachiman?"

Hiyori looked at me in confusion. Apparently, she'd been thinking about this more than I had expected.

"Ah, it's nothing. Anyway, let's buy the DVD player first."

"I'll go with you, but are you sure about the massage chair?"

"We'll think about that next time."

As we headed to the checkout, I saw Ayanokoji and the others lining up too. Just after we got in line behind them, Ayanokoji suddenly began filling out the paperwork at astonishing speed.

"Please contact me once the repair is done."

"W-wait. Isn't that girl's the camera?"

"The manufacturer's warranty only requires confirmation of the store and purchase date, and the clerk has already checked those. There's no legal problem, right? Or is there some reason it has to be her in person?"

"No... I understand... It's fine."

A few minutes after overhearing that conversation, Ayanokoji and the others handed the digital camera to the clerk, nodded to us, and practically fled the store.

The reason was probably that clerk. At that moment, the clerk was staring our way with an unsettling look. I couldn't tell whether it was Kushida or Sakura he was looking at.

As I was thinking about it, the clerk seemed to notice us. He turned around and immediately sized Hiyori up with a leering gaze.

At the same time, Hiyori trembled slightly. I felt murderous intent well up inside me, then forced it down with reason and pushed the DVD player toward the counter. Honestly, the way that man looked at Hiyori was disgusting. I wanted to get out of there immediately.

After paying, I quickly left the store and spoke to Hiyori.

"Hiyori, are you okay?"

"Yes. But that clerk's stare gave me the creeps."

"Yeah."

Of course it did. And Hiyori got off lightly. The way the clerk looked at Kushida or Sakura was even more disgusting. Judging from Ayanokoji's conversation, Sakura might have been the one he'd targeted.

He might go after her directly... For now, I should settle the debt for the broken camera.

With that in mind, I posted on the school forum, warning everyone to watch out for the name on that clerk's badge. I posted the same thing in the teachers' advice section too. The teachers should keep a closer eye on him now, which ought to reduce the danger somewhat.

"Anyway, I've taken the minimum precautions. It should be fine."

"What did you do?"

"Spread the word. Shall we go to the bookstore next?"

"Sure!"

When Hiyori nodded, we headed toward the bookstore. On the way, we passed a convenience store and saw Hoshinomiya-sensei coming out with a shopping bag.

"Oh my~? Hikigaya and Shiina, out on a Sunday date? You two get along so well~"

"It's not a date. Anyway, how much alcohol did you buy?"

The shopping bag in Hoshinomiya-sensei's hand was stuffed with cans of beer. It was the kind of haul you'd expect from a hard-drinking middle-aged man.

"Alcohol's delicious~ You two should try it once you're twenty."

I wasn't uninterested in alcohol, but I had no intention of drinking that much. I definitely didn't want to turn into a drunken old man.

"I'll keep that in mind... By the way, there's something I'd like to ask you."

"What is it? You can't have my phone number, you know?"

"I'm not interested. To get straight to the point, can you use Private Points to get a bigger dorm room?"

Hoshinomiya-sensei paused for a moment, then laughed. "Hahaha! Hikigaya, you're certainly an interesting one. The answer is yes. Several graduates expanded their dorm rooms, and those rooms are still vacant."

So Private Points really were all-powerful. The question was...

"How much does it cost?"

"Two million points for one and a half times the standard area, three million for twice the area, and five million for three times the area."

As expected, it was expensive.

"Got it. Thanks."

"You're welcome~ And don't get too carried away with your improper relations, okay?"

With that, she left. It seemed word of Hiyori and me living together had already gotten out.

"...Looks like she knows."

"Yeah. But she did say not to get too carried away, so she probably won't punish us."

The girls' dormitory had a curfew, but the boys' dormitory had no such restrictions.

"That's reassuring, but a little surprising. The school is pretty tolerant."

"Well, the convenience store sells contraceptives, and the terminals the school gives us can access porn sites. As long as we don't do anything stupid, it should be fine."

There weren't any love hotels, but rumors said there was an underground store selling adult books and DVDs.

As I was thinking about that...

"Hachiman, you shouldn't look at porn sites."

Hiyori gave me a smiling but pressuring look. Crap, I'd let that slip.

After that, I apologized desperately and finally earned her forgiveness, but she kept clinging to me for ages before we went back to the room to sleep.