For some reason, smelling Ren’s scent calms me down. That’s why I like slipping under his bedding. Even the sexual urges that feel like they’re about to spiral out of control somehow settle down just from being wrapped in his scent. Normally, you’d think it would make things worse and turn me on even more, but for some reason, it doesn’t. I honestly don’t know why. While I was burrowed under the futon like that, desperately holding my own raging libido in check, Ren said this.

“I just took a shower. You guys are gonna take one too, right?”

And so I went to the shower room, calmed the tingling in my lower abdomen, and washed myself clean before returning to the room. Nagisa and Noa would probably do the same. That’s how intense that earlier Fitness Adventure session had been. It was way too erotic. In any case, after refreshing ourselves and feeling a bit clearer, the three of us lazed around, idly fiddling with our phones.

She probably wasn’t able to sleep at karaoke either, so it wasn’t surprising she was getting sleepy.

“Guess we should start getting ready for bed.”

With that, we slid the low table under the bed, laid out the futons, and got everything ready for sleep. The usual arrangement was that Ren and one other person slept on the bed, while the remaining two slept on futons. Three people sleeping on a single futon would be too much, so at some point it had become the norm for one person to share the bed with Ren. Who slept with him was decided secretly among us, and tonight, it was my turn. Since it was a semi-double bed, it wasn’t unbearably cramped, but the distance between us was still pretty close. I mean, just sleeping in the same bed as him was hard in so many ways. Really… so many ways.

Once we were ready for bed, Ren and I slipped under the covers, lying with our backs to each other. Nagisa and Noa must have been exhausted, because it wasn’t long before I could hear their steady breathing from beneath the bed. I, on the other hand, couldn’t fall asleep. I absentmindedly fiddled with my phone, waiting for drowsiness to set in. It seemed Ren couldn’t sleep either, because I could sense him behind me, doing the same thing, lazily scrolling on his phone. We spent quite a while like that, until Ren finally turned toward me and spoke.

“Can’t sleep?”

“…Yeah. I just can’t seem to drift off.”

“Well, we did just do some pretty intense exercise. Maybe our brains are still all fired up.”

Ren said that in response. Then I felt some movement behind me, like he was shifting around. It seemed he’d sat up.

“If we’re just going to lie here unable to sleep, I’m thinking of going out for a short walk. What about you, Yukina?”

At that, I sat up as well and answered,

“I’ll go. I don’t think I’ll be able to sleep like this either.”

　　　＊＊＊

After finishing Fitness Adventure, we agreed it was about time to go to sleep, but even after getting ready for bed and slipping under the covers, drowsiness stubbornly refused to come. We’d just exercised, so our minds were probably still wide awake. It seemed Yukina was in the same situation, so I sat up and suggested we go for a walk together along the quiet night streets.

I threw on a light jacket and stepped outside the apartment. Even though it was early July, the air still felt a little cool at night. I glanced over at Yukina walking beside me and said,

“Aren’t you cold wearing just a short-sleeved T-shirt?”

“No, not at all. If anything, it’s a little warm.”

“Really… maybe you’ve got a fast metabolism.”

“That too, I guess. I’ve always been pretty sensitive to heat.”

Chatting about nothing in particular, we walked on for a bit and eventually reached the riverbank embankment. If we kept walking downstream along the river, we’d reach a ramen place I went to a lot.. It stayed open late, which made it really handy whenever I got hungry at night. I’d brought my wallet just in case, but I hadn’t decided yet whether we’d eat ramen tonight. After exercising, I felt like I might be hungry… but at the same time, maybe not. I figured I’d decide once we got closer to the shop.

“…By the way, Ren, do you ever think about the future?”

It was the kind of slightly serious topic that tends to come up during quiet, late-night hours. The future, huh… I’d been trying not to think about it too much, but I was already a college student. I probably should start giving some thought to my life plans. Honestly, I wished this time could go on forever, but there was no way that would happen. Sooner or later, something was bound to change. After thinking it over for a moment, I opened my mouth to reply.

“Honestly… I haven’t really thought about it. I know I probably should be thinking about all sorts of things though.”

“Well, since you’re a man, Ren, maybe you don’t really need to worry about it that much. There would be plenty of people who’d want you.”

She said it with a faint hint of loneliness in her voice.

“Hmm… I guess there probably are people like that. But those are usually the rich types, right? People with money. I’m not really drawn to flashy lifestyles like that. I’d rather live a quiet life, you know…”

At my words, Yukina looked over at me. She smiled a little.

“I think men who say things like that are really rare. But somehow, that suits you, Ren. You even left your family behind and came all the way to Tokyo on your own. You’ve probably been turning down all those invitations to social parties too, haven’t you?”

She wasn’t wrong. Even at university, I’d been invited to various social gatherings by the few other men around, as well as by wealthy women. Of course, I’d turned all of them down and spent my time with Yukina and the others instead. I knew there were people who didn’t like that, but this kind of life was what I preferred, and it suited me. With a wry smile, I answered her.

“Yeah, I guess. I care a lot more about spending time with you guys than I do about that kind of surface-level socializing.”

Hearing that, Yukina fell silent. Her expression was hidden in the shadows, making it impossible to read. Even so, I went on speaking.

“Even in the future, even after we’re adults, I want to keep hanging out with you three, Yukina. We get along, it’s comfortable being together, and above all, it’s fun. Well, if there’s anything I’ve actually thought about when it comes to the future, it’s probably just that.”

“…I see. If possible, I’d like to stay together with you too, Ren. You’re important to me as well… as a friend.”

After that, it suddenly hit me how absurdly cheesy our conversation was, and I felt embarrassed. What was this, a page straight out of some coming-of-age story? But then again, a late-night walk for college students usually ends up like this anyway. Yeah, this atmosphere was the problem. I wasn’t at fault here.

“Want to grab some ramen before heading back?”

“Sounds good. I’m a little hungry now.”

To break the mood, we forcibly steered the conversation in a different direction and headed for the ramen shop. After that, we got caught up talking about trivial things, like how assignments were going or where we wanted to go during summer break. Apparently, Yukina wanted to visit a hot spring town over the holidays. I didn’t know where Nagisa or Noa wanted to go, but the idea of the four of us going on a hot spring trip together sounded fun. Even if it wasn’t a hot spring, Nagisa and I both had driver’s licenses, so taking turns driving and going on a longer trip seemed like a pretty good option too.

After that, the two of us slurped down our ramen, filled our stomachs, and headed back home. Nagisa and Noa were still fast asleep. When we lay down on the bed as well, the full stomach made it easy to drift off right away. Because we’d gone to bed so late, waking up the next morning was rough, but I figured that was just something that couldn’t be helped.