The sixth night of the Six Kings Festival. Tomorrow is the last day of the Six Kings Festival which has been filled with various things... There are also lots of troublesome things, but thinking about how it's going to end makes me feel sad. However...
Well, enough about that... Let's put that matter aside. There are more important things I have at hand.
[...I can already kind of guess why, but can I ask you something? Why was I "kidnapped to the Sanctuary" as soon as dinner was over?]
[It's my turn today.]
[H- Huhh...]
[Kuro and the others made the rule that the person who would go on a date with Kaito the next day can take a bath with him the night before. Then, of course, I should have the right to do the same.]
Before I had time to bask in the afterglow of the night before the final day, I had been kidnapped by Shiro-san, bringing me to the God Realm. Unnn, well, how should I say this... It really was just as I had expected.
[...Well, since Kuro didn't stop Shiro-san, that means they've also included you too... I don't have the option of refusing anyway, right?]
[Yes. That's right.]
[Alright... but "there are some conditions".]
[Hmm?]
Yes, I had predicted this situation. I knew that if Kuro and the others had established such a rule, there was no way that Shiro-san wouldn't take advantage of it. So, I've been thinking about countermeasures for it.
Well, I didn't expect that she would bring me to the Sanctuary rather than staying with me in the Central Tower...
[Shiro-san, do you remember the last time when we went to the beach?]
[Yes, of course.]
[Then, please "wear the bathing suit" you were wearing that time. That's the conditions I'm offering.]
[Mhmmm... However, no one other than Phantasmal King wore a bathing suit when bathing with Kaito. Kuro wasn't wearing a bathing suit either. That's unfair.]
Shiro-san's voice was as inflectionless as ever, but she protested in a somewhat dissatisfied manner... which was a response I had expected.
[Yes, that may be true. However, please think about it. I don't know how Shiro-san feels about yourself, but Shiro-san is an incredibly beautiful woman. If I were to take a bath with you while you weren't wearing a bathing suit, I would feel nervous.]
[...…]
[If that were the case, I don't think I'll have the composure to enjoy my conversation with Shiro-san. I want to enjoy this opportunity to be alone with you, Shiro-san.]
[Mhmhmhmmm...]
In response to my words, Shiro-san was unusually hesitating to say something. How should I say this... It feels incredibly refreshing to have the upper hand against Shiro-san in a conversation.
Anyway, my point seemed to have been conveyed, and Shiro-san remained expressionless and silent for a while.
[...I understand. I'll put on my bathing suit while we're taking a bath.]
[Thank you! Ahh, and please don't think of trying anything witty like "wearing your bathing suit only when you get in, and remove it after you're in the water".]
[.....]
I warned her just in case, but it seems like Shiro-san really was thinking of doing that, as I saw her eyes briefly blinked twice. This is how Shiro-san reacts when she's surprised.
For once, my advance planning and preparations paid off, as Shiro-san obediently put on her swimsuit.
Together with Shiro-san, who was wearing a bathing suit, I soaked in the onsen that I had also bathed in when I visited the God Realm before. However, hmmm... I really think that Shiro-san is unfair. Not sure if it's because she's really just too beautiful or not, but even when she's wearing a bathing suit, all the blood will gather on my face.
[...I somehow feel like I lost. I am displeased.]
[I'm not entirely sure how you decide if you won or you lost but... if I win, would that mean this would be my first victory over Shiro-san?]
[...No, it's your second victory.]
[Arehh?]
Huh? It's the second time I've won against Shiro-san? She had always been pushing me around so much that I don't remember ever winning against her... Ahh, is she talking about that time when we first met?
[That's right.]
What Shiro-san is referring to is that conversation Shiro-san and I had when we first met... that time when I rejected Shiro-san when she told me "she would give me what she wants".
To be honest, I don't feel like I've won at that time, but it seems like from Shiro-san's point of view, that was another loss.
[...I couldn't prepare what you really want after all. Then, I guess I lost.]
[Is that how it is?]
[That's right.]
After telling me this, Shiro-san made a sake cup and a tokkuri out of nowhere, handing me the sake cup without saying a word. Speaking of which, back when we were taking a bath in an onsen together, she also handed me a cup of sake like this... Somehow, I feel strangely nostalgic, even though that shouldn't have been that long ago.
[...It's delicious.]
[I'm glad to hear that.]
[...By the way, Shiro-san?]
[What is it?]
[I'm sorry if I'm mistaken... but I kind of feel like you're "a bit depressed"...]
[Why do you think that?]
[I'm not sure. It's just a hunch.]
[...….]
From what I heard from Kuro, Shiro-san never lies. In other words, I could take her silence as affirmation.
To be honest, I wasn't really sure, and just as I told Shiro-san, I had no proof. I've never seen Shiro-san depressed before, so it really was just a hunch.
[...Kaito-san, are you able to read my emotional changes from my facial expressions?]
[...Ehh? Y- Yes, well... I could somehow read them.]
Shiro-san's expression certainly hardly changed, and her voice had no inflection. However, since I had been conversing with her to some extent, I have come to understand her emotional changes to some extent.
When she's having fun, the corners of her lips turn up a few millimeters. When she's surprised, her eyes would quickly blink twice. When she's sulking, her mouth would become smaller by a few millimeters, and when she is confused, her eyelids would drop a few millimeters.
I guess I've gotten the hang of it to some extent, and now, I can read the changes in her emotions from her facial expressions.
[...You... really are...]
[Shiro-san?]
[No, it's nothing.]
[...…]
Shiro-san was about to say something, but she stopped mid-sentence and shook her head.
Then, after shifting her gaze to the skies of the God Realm... She quietly whispered.
[...If...]
[Unnn?]
[...If I try to... take away "your most precious thing"... will you... hate me?]
Dear Mom, Dad————— Was it just my imagination? Her voice was as inflectionless as usual, and her expression almost unchanged... However, hearing Shiro-san's voice right now, for some reason—————– She sounded like she was about to cry.