Chapter 123: Onsen Hotel
"Are you some sort of kid?"
"I don't know what you're trying to say."
"Then explain this."
"...."
Haruto turned his head when he saw the soaked jacket resting on his knees and ignored the gaze Akane was giving him.
"You wouldn't understand."
"What do you mean?"
"I had to defend myself for the dignity of my team! 3vs1 against Shiratorizawa is something I must do my utmost best in to not bring any shame!"
"Are you an idiot?"
Akane had a strange look on her face when she heard Haruto say this.
Haruto on the other end shook his head when he noticed Akane's expression and showed her a look of pity which made her a bit irritated.
"See this is why you can't rank up in any of your matches. Such a shame."
"Okay, I suddenly feel like beating you up now."
Haruto ignored Akane's words and turned his head away as if he didn't notice the glares being sent his way.
He looked out the window of the car he was currently riding and thought back to what happened before entering.
After his surprise meeting with Ushijima and Tendo, he immediately did his best to avoid the cannons Ushijima threw alongside trying to hit Tendo who was very slippery.
It was unavoidable for him not to get hit so he just braced himself to land as many shots as he could.
In the end of it all, he was drenched with snow but his plan was semi-successful since Tsutomu and even Ushijima were left equally as soaked as he was.
'But I never would have thought that Ushijima was the type of person to cheer me on.'
Remembering the words Ushijima said to him just as he was about to leave, a bright smile began to form on his lips.
[Don't lose.]
"We're almost there."
Jiro who was driving looked at his rear view mirror and saw the three who turned silent after making a bunch just moments prior.
Akane and Mahiru who heard this shifted their bodies towards Haruto's side who also tried to see what building the hotspring was in.
Past a few trees that blocked the view towards one part of the road, a tall building with traditional wooden motifs gradually entered their sight.
A sense of traditional architecture also came with some modern designs that mixed well with the intent of the hotel.
Near the entrance were wooden bridges overlaying deep greenery with a large sign that had the name of the hotel on it.
[Sendai Akiu Onsen Hotel Zuiho]
Jiro pulled into the entrance where a person wearing a suit was standing by the opening as if he was waiting for them.
The man noticed the car stopping and made his way towards the passenger seat and opened the door for Yui who came out.
"Mr. and Mrs. Watanabe, It is a pleasure for us to meet once again."
"You don't have to act so formal. We came here with the intent to relax with family compared to our usual visits."
"I understand. But I feel much more comfortable addressing you as such."
"If it makes you comfortable then suit yourself."
Jiro chuckled before patting the man on the shoulder.
The man smiled and bowed his head slightly after seeing Yui who greeted back and turned his eyes towards the three who came out of the car right behind them.
"Welcome, I hope you three enjoy your visit."
"We definitely will!"
Akane nodded her head in excitement as she looked around the hotel with entranced eyes.
Haruto and Mahiru were equally as excited but held it in as they took their time enjoying the scenery.
"That old man really went all out."
Haruto mumbled as he followed behind Akane who tried to catch up to Jiro and Yui near the lobby.
"Haruto, look over here."
"Hmm?"
–CLICK
Hearing Mahiru's voice, Haruto turned his head and heard a shutter go off and what he saw was Mahiru smiling while pointing her phone in his direction.
"At least tell me the picture came out good."
"Any picture I take of you is perfect in my eyes."
"Wow, when did you learn to speak like that?"
"Guess~"
Haruto watched as Mahiru ran off and all he could do was look helplessly while trying to not be the last one left behind.
"Mr. Watanabe, here are your 4 room keys and enjoy your stay."
"Thank you."
Jiro nodded his head and turned to his family who were patiently waiting behind him.
"I got rooms for each of you but one room is slightly different as it has its own private bath outside."
"Where did you…"
"It's because of this."
Jiro interrupted Akane who was about to ask about the rooms they got and smirked while holding his thumb and pointer finger to show a gesture.
"I splurged a bit and made some good connections from before."
""How cool…""
"Right!"
Seeing the faces of his children look at him with bright eyes, Jiro puffed out his chest in pride.
"He just wants to show off since a trip like this is pretty special for him."
Yui who was off to the side walked to Mahiru who watched Haruto and Akane praised their father.
"He also wanted the best rooms since he wanted to spoil his children who came with him."
Mahiru nodded her head and felt a nudge push her forward to where Jiro and the rest were.
"Mahiru you also join in this since the faith of what room you have rests on this."
"I understand. I will try my best to get the best room."
"I won't hold back even against you."
Haruto cracked his knuckles while Akane shook her neck preparing herself for the upcoming game to decide who gets what room.
""Rock!, Paper, Scissors–!""
***
"Undefeated once again~!"
Haruto closed the door behind him and threw the bag he had onto one corner of the room and looked at the room he won.
The room was spacious with tatami mats and was split into two parts.
The room he was in was similar to a living room where a long wooden table with cushions were neatly placed. A few cups were already placed out and in the middle was a wooden basket with a few treats in them.
Haruto took one and walked towards the other part where his bed was. Beside his bed was a large window that acted as a door leading to a planked patio.
Running water that released sprinkles of steam floated around showing the private bath Haruto's room had.
"They said to meet for dinner in a few minutes… I should probably dress for the occasion."
Haruto saw the brown yukata neatly folded on his bed and looked at his phone to see that he had enough time to wear it.
While he was changing into his yukata, Mahiru and Akane were already dressed wearing their clothes properly with their hair tied up in a bun and ponytail respectfully.
The obi wrapped around their waist highlighted their tone figures making a few eyes follow them as they walked towards Haruto's room.
"Damn I almost bested that bastard but I was just too slow."
Akane clenched her fist as she felt frustrated losing to Haruto.
"Well at least you have your room right beside mine right?"
"I guess that's a good way to make it better."
Mahiru smiled and turned quiet as she thought about the room Haruto had.
'Ehh~'
Akane was not slow to notice this and nudged her elbow before whispering in Mahiru's ear.
"So are you going to join him in the bath?"
"Wh-what are you saying…"
Mahiru flinched when she heard this and her eyes began to dart around wondering if anyone else heard what Akane said.
"So you're not?"
"I don't know yet…"
'She said 'yet'...'
Mahiru began to mumble at the end of her words and her face turned bright red thinking about this possibility.
'I want to do it but…'
She immediately covered her face remembering her time at the beach and felt like this would be the same but something just made her quite flustered thinking about it.
'I brought the other s-swimsuit I didn't wear before so I can at least use that right…?'
"Ah, so you guys were already on your way here."
A deep voice brought Mahiru out of her thoughts and flinched when she saw Haruto walking towards them in a similar looking yukata.
Her eyes began to squirm but she paused when she noticed the attention Haruto was gathering due to his sloppy way of wearing his clothes.
The slit of his yukata was slightly exposed showing his chest which made Mahiru furrow her eyebrows noticing that he did the same mistake during their time at the festival a while ago.
"Does he not feel cold doing this…"
Mahiru mumbled before she quickly approached Haruto to close the slit of his shirt.
"You sure love leaving your shirt open."
"Really? I don't really realize unless you point it out."
Haruto shrugged his shoulders and allowed Mahiru to fold the inner layers of his clothes that she was hell bent on doing.
"... By the way, how was your room?"
"My room? It's actually really nice. They had some snacks on the table and the private bath was bigger than I expected."
"Was it now…"
Mahiru looked at Haruto's face who looked back at her with a confused look.
"Is something wrong?"
Haruto asked Mahiru as she was staring quite hard but he confusion grew when he noticed a deep blush covering her entire face.
"No! N-Nothing, let's hurry up and meet up with the rest to eat dinner…"
Grabbing onto his arm she pulled him faster trying to hide her flustered appearance from him.
'Maybe not today.. But definitely next time…'
***
I hope you enjoyed it. Peacu.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
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