"Thank you for the meal."
"You're welcome; it was nothing special."
I finished the dinner Sara-san had made for me.
Since Sara-san was leaving for her school trip tomorrow, I wouldn't be able to eat her cooking or her bento for a week. In other words, this was my last taste of them for a while.
Perhaps that was why tonight’s meal had been Hamburg Steak, my absolute favorite.
But it wasn't just about the food.
I had known this was coming, of course, but I wouldn't be able to see Sara-san for an entire week.
Realizing that such a stretch of time would begin tomorrow, a sudden, heavy sense of loneliness welled up inside me.
"……Shall I brew some tea?"
"…Yes, please."
I knew Sara-san felt the same way I did. She seemed a bit dispirited.
It wasn't as if we were parting forever, but because I had experienced a similar loneliness once before, the thought of tasting it again was...
Sitting on the bed, I looked aimlessly at the calendar on my charging smartphone. One week... seven days. It was two days longer than the last time we were apart.
As I was lost in thought, Sara-san approached and sat beside me with a soft thud, leaning her weight against my shoulder.
That was right—Sara-san was just as lonely as I was.
Usually, it would be around the time she had to head home, but Sara-san made no move to leave, and I couldn't bring myself to say it.
Since I sensed we were both thinking the same thing, I summoned my courage and took the initiative to invite her.
"……Sara-san, why don’t you stay over tonight?"
"Eh?"
She had stayed over before, but those times had mostly been because she was worried about me and decided it was necessary.
Since I was the one suggesting it this time, her surprise was only natural.
However, a smile immediately lit up Sara-san's face, and she took out her smartphone to make a call.
"Mother, I'm staying over at Kazunari-san's house tonight… Eh? Yes, I understand. Please do."
I wondered what Mayumi-san had said.
I felt a slight prickle of anxiety, but...
"Um, it seems Mother expected me to be staying over at Kazunari-san's house today. She said she would bring my luggage over right away…"
That was... so embarrassing.
It meant she had anticipated that we would be so lonely about not seeing each other that I would ask her to stay and she would want to stay...
But Sara-san seemed more happy about the fact that she was staying over than anything else, and she gazed at me with a beaming smile.
Then, she suddenly seemed to hit upon an idea.
"Oh, I know! Since you were kind enough to invite me, Kazunari-san, I shall scrub your back for the first time in a while."
As if a brilliant plan had struck her, Sara-san clapped her hands together in delight.
She seemed unusually high-spirited. Was she really that happy?
However... while this wasn't the first time, it was essentially the same as being told "Let's take a bath together." No, I just had to keep my self-control.
It was fine. I was a man who could hold it together for Sara-san's sake.
"Takanashi-san, sorry to always bother you, but I'll leave things in your hands…… (Exercise restraint until marriage, okay?)"
I suppose I was trusted, but was it really okay to give permission for a stay-over at a guy living alone so easily?
Wait, did she mutter something at the end? I couldn't quite hear it.
"Yes. Or rather, I was the one who asked her to stay this time..."
"Oh, is that so? That explains why she looks so happy."
According to Mayumi-san, the fact that I was the one who asked her to stay was the reason for Sara-san’s excellent mood.
"Kazunari-san, is your conversation finished?"
Sara-san returned after bringing her travel bag—the last of her luggage—into the house. In one natural motion, she intertwined her arm with mine and stood beside me.
"Honestly, Sara-chan. I know you two are close, but let Mother talk to Takanashi-san too."
"I'm not exactly getting in the way. Is there something difficult to say while I am here?"
Though her words were a bit sharp, Sara-san’s face still looked quite happy. Just as Mayumi-san had said, it must have been because I was the one who asked.
"Goodness… Well then, this Third Wheel shall make her exit. Takanashi-san, I'm counting on you. Sara-chan, I'll say it now since I won't see you tomorrow. Have a good trip. Be careful while you're away."
"Yes, I'm off."
"Mayumi-san, thank you very much."
Waving with a smile, she climbed into her car and drove away.
The two of us watched her go, then glanced at each other. Without needing to say a word, we both started walking toward the entrance.
Calm down... I'd already experienced this many times.
I was sitting on a low chair in the bathroom, waiting without even turning on the shower. From an outsider's perspective, I probably looked a bit ridiculous.
From the changing room, I could faintly hear the rustle of clothes. Sara-san was undressing.
After waiting like that for a short while...
"Kazunari-san, excuse me."
With those words, the bathroom door opened. While trying my best not to look directly at her, I caught a glimpse of Sara-san. Today, she wasn't wearing a bath garment—she only had a bath towel wrapped around her!
I see. Even Mayumi-san probably hadn't anticipated a situation requiring a bath garment, so of course one hadn't been packed.
"Kazunari-san, um... if you stare that much, even I will feel quite embarrassed..."
Despite telling myself not to look directly, it seemed I had been staring intently before I realized it.
Flustered, I hurried to turn around, showing my back to Sara-san.
"S-Sorry."
"N-No, it's alright. My apologies for making you wait. Now, I shall scrub your back immediately."
After turning on the shower and rinsing my body, I heard a rhythmic scrubbing sound. She was likely putting body soap on a body towel and lathering it up.
"I will wash you now. Please let me know if there is anything."
With those words, I felt the sensation of the body towel against my back, and it began to move slowly.
Haa... it felt so good.
Since it was the same body towel I always used, the sensation against my skin should have been identical, but why was it so completely different from when I washed myself?
She finished washing my back and rinsed it with the shower.
I thought that was the end. Feeling a bit disappointed that it had finished in the blink of an eye, I noticed that Sara-san still wasn't moving.
"Since we have the chance, please let me wash a bit more."
With that declaration, I felt hands holding the body towel reach out from under my arms, and she began to scrub my chest and stomach.
Whoa!?
I was startled, but I remained silent and let her do as she pleased.
Sara-san seemed to be washing me quite seriously, moving her hands while murmuring things like, "This is harder than I thought... Like this, perhaps?"
……However, the truth was that an ordeal was fast approaching.
The earnest Sara-san was so focused on the task that she wasn't paying attention to anything else.
And in this position, she was essentially hugging me from behind. The sensation against my back was... well... calm down...
"Ah, this makes it easier to wash."
She seemed to have grasped the knack of it. Her movements became smoother and the motion of her arms grew larger.
She seemed to have found some leeway in her posture, too—but the moment I thought she had pulled her body away from me slightly—
"Kya!?"
Sara-san let out a small, sharp cry and suddenly pulled her arms back.
"Are you okay?"
"Y-Yes. Please wait a moment. The towel..."
"The towel!?"
With those words, I could more or less imagine what had happened.
"No, it is nothing!"
I could feel her moving busily behind my back. She was likely fixing her bath towel.
Even though I knew I shouldn't, the scene vividly flashed through my mind...
"Thank you for waiting."
"............"
"Kazunari-san?"
"............"
Pinch!
"Ow!?"
My cheek was lightly pinched, snapping my consciousness back from the world of my imagination.
"S-Sara-san?"
"………Kazunari-san, you pervert."
It seemed she had completely seen through what I was thinking. It had been a while since she'd called me that...
In the end, Sara-san didn't seem satisfied yet. After pulling herself together, she washed my body a bit more before finally leaving the bathroom with an air of accomplishment.
...I did my best today. I really did.